New government figures show the country’s digital sector contributed £149bn to the UK in 2018, which means it now accounts for no less than 7.7% of the country’s entire economy.
This, says the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), which released the data yesterday, is up 7.9% on the previous year – meaning growth in the sector is nearly six times larger than growth across the economy as a whole, which increased by 1.4%.
Up until the mid 2010s, the sector had been growing in line with the wider rate of UK economy growth, the statement goes on.
But the official figures show that in 2015, tech started to outstrip the economy as a whole and has “continued on an upward trajectory since”.
For comparison, the Creative Industries contributed £111.7bn to the UK economy in 2018 and the Cultural Sector contributed £32.3bn, up 2.7% from the previous year.
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The digital sector figures published today by the Department take into account the contributions of digital businesses up and down the country across a range of specialisms.
This includes software publishers such as Newcastle-based software provider Sage, which started small, but now has more than 13,000 staff, says the government.
Commenting on the data, for Digital Minister Matt Warman, “Technology is a sweet spot of our economy, bringing jobs and wealth across the country.
“The success is thanks to our business friendly environment and fantastic workforce. We are working hard to continue this momentum by strengthening regional tech clusters supporting digital businesses and investing in people’s digital skills.”
Read the full DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates 2018 here.
