Official Statistics

DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Research and Development (R&D) Expenditure 2023 - Main Report

Published 18 September 2025

1. Introduction

Release date: 18 September 2025

Next release: 2025/26

Geographic coverage: United Kingdom

Time coverage: 2022 to 2023

Responsible analyst: Lydia Ndakotsu

These official statistics in development provide estimates of expenditure on Research and Development (R&D) by UK businesses in the DCMS sectors in 2022 and 2023.

Estimates of R&D expenditure by businesses in the civil society sector are not available in this release because these organisations are not identifiable in the data source.

Tourism industries estimates in this release are constructed on a different basis to the tourism sector estimates in our other economic estimates, and will be larger as they take into account the entire industry rather than strictly tourism activity.

These estimates are based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) survey. Due to sampling and methodology changes to the BERD survey in 2022, estimates in this release are not directly comparable to previous estimates produced using BERD data for years before 2022. This includes estimates published by the ONS on Expenditure on research and development performed in UK businesses in the Creative Industries sector, 2020. More information on these changes is available in the accompanying technical report. 

Official statistics in development

These statistics are labelled as official statistics in development. Official statistics in development are official statistics that are undergoing development and will be tested with users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. These R&D estimates are designed to complement our other economic estimates and to give a deeper understanding of the economic performance of DCMS sectors to the UK economy. They are being published as official statistics in development because:

• we will be exploring further improvements, including the feasibility of additional breakdowns. 
• we are continuing to seek user feedback on the usefulness of the statistics, the suitability of the methodology used and how clearly the statistics are communicated, including explanations about quality. 

In this release we have introduced a number of improvements, including: 

• adding a regional (ITL1) breakdown for DCMS sectors overall (excluding civil society) and for the creative industries. Regional breakdowns for other DCMS sectors and subsectors have not been published because a large proportion of the regional values did not meet the disclosure threshold.
• adding a breakdown for DCMS sectors by employment size of the business (0 to 249 employees and 250 employees and over). 
• publishing an accompanying report which includes headline findings and charts to visualise the data. 

We expect to make further improvements and implement changes after seeking user feedback. These changes will be made by the next annual R&D release, expected in 2026. At this point we will make an assessment about whether the statistics still remain in development or if the label can be removed. 

We welcome feedback on these statistics. We particularly welcome views on:

• the methodology and data sources used
• the presentation of these measures and explanations about the quality of the data
• suggestions for how these statistics could be further improved
• how you are using the estimates 

Please contact evidence@dcms.gov.uk with any feedback.

2. Headline Findings

All of the figures in this release are in current prices, meaning that they have not been adjusted for inflation. Year on year increases are therefore likely to be higher than the ‘real’ (inflation-adjusted) value. 

2.1 R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors

In 2023, expenditure on R&D by businesses in the included DCMS sectors was an estimated £8.4 billion, 17% of the R&D expenditure by UK businesses overall (£50.0 billion). This was an increase of £0.6 billion (7%) since 2022. 

Figure 1: R&D expenditure (£ billions) by businesses in the included DCMS sectors in 2022 and 2023

Please note that due to overlaps between the DCMS sectors, for example where some industries are simultaneously classed as being in the creative industries and cultural sector, the sum of totals will not add up to the included DCMS sectors totals and the sum of proportions will not equal 100%.

The increase in the included DCMS sectors between 2022 and 2023 was mainly driven by an increase in expenditure performed by businesses in the creative industries and the overlapping cultural sector. Estimates of R&D expenditure in 2023 and trends vary by sector: 

• Creative industries: £7.1 billion, an increase of 9% from 2022. The creative industries accounted for 85% of total R&D expenditure by the included DCMS sectors and 14% of expenditure by UK businesses overall. 
• Cultural sector: £0.8 billion, an increase of 22% from 2022. The cultural sector accounted for 10% of total R&D expenditure by the included DCMS sectors and 2% of expenditure by UK businesses overall. 
• Tourism industries*: £0.9 billion, a decrease of 11% from 2022.  The tourism industries accounted for 11% of total R&D expenditure by the included DCMS sectors and 2% of expenditure by UK businesses overall. 
• Sport sector: £0.8 billion, an increase of 5% from 2022. The sports sector accounted for 10% of total R&D expenditure by the included DCMS sectors and 2% of expenditure by UK businesses overall. 
• Gambling R&D expenditure is not available for 2023 to prevent the disclosure of respondent information in line with ONS disclosure rules.

*Tourism industries estimates in this release are constructed on a different basis to the tourism sector estimates in our other economic estimates, and will be larger as they take into account the entire industry rather than strictly tourism activity.

2.2 Regional distribution of R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors

Regional breakdowns of R&D expenditure are available for included DCMS sectors overall and the creative industries only. This is because a large proportion of the regional values for other DCMS sectors and subsectors had to be suppressed in line with ONS disclosure control guidance to make sure that information attributable to an individual business is not identifiable in any published outputs. For this reason, we have published a regional breakdown for DCMS overall and the creative industries only.

Overall, the region with the highest value of R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors was London (41%) followed by the South East  (22%). For UK businesses overall, London accounted for the largest proportion of R&D expenditure (22%) followed by the East of England (20%) and the South East (17%). This shows that R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors is more concentrated in London than for UK businesses overall.

Trends in R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors between 2022 and 2023 vary across regions. London and the South East saw the largest absolute increases, driving the overall increase for included DCMS sectors. The regions with the largest relative growth in R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors were Northern Ireland (+72%), North East (+40%) and West Midlands (+30%). The largest relative decreases were in the North West (-46%), Wales (-27%) and East of England (-18%).

Figure 2: R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors by region in 2022 and 2023

2.3 R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors by employment size band

In 2023, 53% of R&D expenditure by businesses in the included DCMS sectors was by businesses with 0 to 249 employees, a higher proportion than for all UK businesses overall (39%). This varies by sector. The creative industries had the largest proportion of R&D expenditure by businesses in the 0 to 249 employment band (59%) while the sport sector had the lowest proportion (13%). 

3. Further Information

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, these estimates help build a comprehensive picture of the UK economy, and of the DCMS Sectors’ importance within it. 

The DCMS sectors covered in this report are:

• Creative Industries
• Cultural Sector
• Gambling
• Sport
• Tourism Industries

Estimates of R&D expenditure by businesses in the civil society sector are not available in this release because these organisations are not identifiable in the data source.

Tourism industries estimates in this release are constructed on a different basis to the tourism sector estimates in our other economic estimates, and will be larger as they take into account the entire industry rather than strictly tourism activity.

Methodological information on the sector definitions, data sources, calculations of productivity and limitations of the approach can now be found in the accompanying technical report.

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

For general enquiries contact: Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 100 Parliament Street, London, SW1A 2BQ. For media enquiries contact: 020 7211 2210.

DCMS statisticians can also be followed on X via @DCMSInsight.

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.