National statistics

Digital Sector Economic Estimates Gross Value Added 2022 (provisional)

Published 15 February 2024

1. Introduction

Release date: 15 February 2024

Geographic coverage: United Kingdom

Time coverage: 2010 to 2022

Responsible analyst: Rachel Moyce

This release provides estimates of the contribution of the digital and telecoms sectors to the UK economy from 2010 to 2021, and provisionally for 2022, measured by gross value added (GVA). Estimates for 2020 and 2021 are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

We use current prices to report current sector estimates and chained volume measures for any comparisons over time. 

A monthly GVA series for the digital sector and telecoms is published on a quarterly basis. This is more timely (two to five months lag, as publication is quarterly) but less accurate than this series and can be used as a leading indicator.

The digital sector was previously included in the DCMS statistics, and is now published separately alongside the DCMS statistics as responsibility for this sector now lies with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

2. GVA in the digital sector

We use current prices to report current sector estimates and chained volume measures for any comparisons over time. 

In 2022, provisional estimates show that the digital sector contributed £158.3 billion to the UK economy. This was 7.2% of total UK GVA, compared to 7.1% in 2021 (measured in current prices).

The following information is worth noting:

• The figures above are measured in current prices.
• Subsequent comparisons over time use chained volume measures which means percentage changes are adjusted for inflation, except where stated.
• Estimates for 2022 are provisional and subject to change when the National Accounts are published later in 2024.

2.1 Trends since 2019

Digital sector GVA grew by 4.4% in 2022, at the same rate as the UK economy as a whole (4.4%).

From 2019 to 2022, digital sector GVA grew by 9.1%, faster than the UK economy (1.9%). The UK economy as a whole was adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, while the digital sector grew continuously during this time. The digital sector may particularly comprise industries that were less affected by the pandemic, perhaps because they relied less on in-person production and/or consumption of goods and services.

2.2 Trends since 2010

From 2010 to 2019 (the last full year prior to the pandemic) the digital sector grew by 66.1%, compared to 19.2% for the UK. The GVA of the digital sector then increased by 3.9% from 2019 to 2020, while the UK economy as a whole fell by 10.0%.  

From 2010 to 2022 the digital sector GVA increased by 81.3% overall, a much higher rate than the UK economy (21.5%) over the same period.

Figure 1: Index chart (2010=100), in chained volume measures (CVM) showing growth of digital and telecoms sectors compared to the UK economy, from 2010 to 2022.

The digital sector contains nine distinct subsectors, defined using Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes and grouped by policy themes. Looking at these subsectors: 

• The largest contribution to the increase in GVA from 2021 to 2022 was the ‘computer programming, consultancy and related activities’ subsector which grew by 12.1%. This was partly offset by falls in the ‘telecoms’ and ‘software publishing’ subsectors.
• The ‘computer programming, consultancy and related activities’ subsector is also consistently the largest in size within the digital sector, generating £65.7bn for the UK economy in 2022. 
• The “telecommunications” subsector (also a sector in its own right - telecoms, see below) and the “film, TV, video, radio, music” subsector are the next largest, generating £32.7bn and £21.2bn respectively.

3. GVA in Telecoms sector 

3.1 Sector overlap

Telecoms is a sector definition that also sits entirely within the digital sector, and therefore its GVA does too.

3.2 Sector findings

The telecoms sector contributed £32.7 billion to the UK economy in 2022 and made up 1.5% of total UK GVA, compared to 1.6% in 2021. 

The GVA of the telecoms sector fell by 6.6% from 2021 to 2022, in real terms, following a fall of 13.2% from 2020 to 2021, having increased by around 400% from 2010 to 2020, and remaining around 300% larger in 2022 than in 2010.

4. Further information

GVA is a measure of the increase in the value of the economy due to the production of goods and services. Its relationship to GDP is as follows:

GVA = GDP + Subsidies - Taxes 

GVA is measured either at:

• current basic prices (‘nominal GVA’), which give the best ‘instantaneous’ measure of the value to the economy, but are not adjusted for the effect of inflation.
• chained volume measures (‘real terms GVA’), where the effect of inflation is removed.

The accompanying data tables consist of current prices and chained volume measures for the digital sector and telecoms sector from 2010 to 2022, and a GVA index expressed in chained volume measures.

We use current prices to report current sector estimates and chained volume measures for any comparisons over time.

Methodological information on the sector definitions, data sources, derivation of GVA and limitations of the approach can now be found in the accompanying technical report, along with a summary of economic measures of these sectors that are published elsewhere. 

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

DCMS has developed a suite of economic estimates to understand the economic impact its sectors have on the UK economy. In combination with other economic indicators, GVA estimates help build a comprehensive picture of the UK economy, and of the DCMS Sectors’ importance within it.

The responsible statistician for this release is Rachel Moyce. For enquiries on this release, please email evidence@dcms.gov.uk.

For general enquiries contact: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, 100 Parliament Street, London, SW1A 2BQ. For media enquiries contact: 020 7215 1000.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.