Economic Estimates: Employment January 2025 to December 2025 for DCMS Sectors
Official Statistics in development used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS Sectors to the UK economy, measured by employment.
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About
These economic estimates are used to provide an estimate of the contribution of DCMS sectors to the UK economy, measured by employment (number of filled jobs). These estimates are calculated based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS).
The statistics in this series (including this release) will be classed as official statistics in development until further review. On 4 August 2025, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) temporarily suspended the accreditation from this employment series, at our request, following ONS reporting concerns with the quality of estimates for smaller segments of the APS population, which the DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Employment series depends on.
Content
DCMS Sectors
These statistics cover the contributions of the following DCMS sectors to the UK economy;
- civil society
- creative industries
- cultural sector
- gambling
- sport
- tourism
Tourism estimates are available up to 2024 only due to data availability.
The release also includes estimates for the audio visual sector, computer games sector and art and antiques market.
Users should note that there is overlap between DCMS sector definitions. In particular, several cultural sector industries are simultaneously creative industries.
A definition for each sector is available in the tables published alongside this release. Further information on all these sectors is available in the associated technical report along with details of methods and data limitations.
Headline findings
Estimates of the number of filled jobs in the included DCMS sectors in 2025 show that:
- There were 4.2 million total filled jobs in the included DCMS sectors in 2025, representing 12.1% of UK total filled jobs. Tourism data is available up to 2024 and provisional estimates show that there were 4.9 million filled jobs in DCMS sectors overall (incl. tourism) in 2024, 14.3% of UK total filled jobs.
- Employment in the included DCMS sectors grew by 15.4% compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019) and by 43.2% since 2011, faster than growth for the UK overall at 2.7% and 14.4%, respectively.
- Compared to 2024, there were no statistically significant changes in the included DCMS sectors overall or individually in 2025.
- Within the included DCMS sectors, 24.4% of filled jobs were in London, a higher proportion compared to the UK economy overall, of which 15.9% were in London.
Creative Occupations
In this publication, we are publishing updated estimates of the number of creative occupations within and outside the creative industries, as well as estimates for the creative economy, which consists of the creative industries plus creative occupations in non-creative industries. These estimates were previously published as part of the DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Employment series using the list of creative occupations defined using the previous iteration of the classification, SOC 2010.
To produce these estimates, we have updated the list of creative occupations, based on the latest Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) framework (SOC 2020). This was completed following recommendations from an independent expert panel. This updates the creative occupations list to the latest SOC framework SOC 2020 from the previous SOC 2010 list.
We estimate that in 2025, the creative economy (comprising the creative industries plus creative occupations outside the creative industries) had 4.3 million filled jobs, 12.4% of total UK filled jobs.
Call for Feedback
We are seeking feedback on the updated set of creative occupations SOC codes and how well they represent the set of occupations that are creative. Please provide any feedback to evidence@dcms.gov.uk by 16 October 2026.
Once the feedback window has closed, we will consider the feedback received and confirm the creative occupations SOC 2020 codes that we will use in future publications. At this point the related methodology documents will be updated.
APS Earnings
Alongside these calendar year employment estimates, we have historically published APS earnings estimates to provide detailed demographic information about earnings in DCMS sectors. Due to ongoing challenges with the quality of APS data, we have not published these estimates in recent years.
We continue to publish earnings estimates based on the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), including available demographic breakdowns. ASHE is the more robust and preferred headline measure of earnings estimates. The latest ASHE earnings estimates for DCMS sectors for 2025 were published in April 2026.
We have previously requested feedback on the value of these APS-based estimates, including engaging with users and a public Call for Feedback. The feedback we have so far received from users suggests low use of our APS earnings estimates, a recognition of the quality issues relating to APS-based estimates and potential confusion arising from having two different sources and estimates of earnings in DCMS sectors. Given this feedback and the ongoing data quality issues with the ONS APS, we are considering permanently stopping publication of APS earnings estimates for DCMS sectors, and continuing to publish ASHE earnings estimates only.
If you have any concerns with this proposal, please let us know by 16 October 2026.
Released
First published on 16th July 2026.
Feedback and consultation
DCMS aims to continuously improve the quality of estimates and better meet user needs. Feedback and responses should be sent to DCMS via email at evidence@dcms.gov.uk.
Official Statistics in Development
The statistics in this series (including this release) will be classed as official statistics in development until further review. On 4 August 2025, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) temporarily suspended the accreditation from this employment series, at our request, following ONS reporting concerns with the quality of estimates for smaller segments of the APS population, which the DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Employment series depends on. The statistics in this series will be classified as official statistics in development, in line with ONS’s decision to consider their APS based labour market statistics as official statistics in development, until further review.
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 statistics are being published as official statistics due to concerns about the quality of estimates for smaller segments of the APS population, which the DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Employment series depends on.
We are classifying these estimates as official statistics in development until further review. In addition to this, in the data tables we have included data on:
- coefficients of variation to indicate the level of statistical robustness for each employment estimate for 2024 and 2025.
- confidence intervals to indicate the amount of uncertainty around each employment estimate for 2024 and 2025.
- confidence intervals for total number of filled jobs in DCMS sectors (excluding tourism) for each year from 2011 to 2025 to enable users to compare whether changes over time are statistically significant.
For further information on the data quality challenges, see the associated technical report.
Office for Statistics Regulation
Our statistical practice is regulated by the 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 by emailing evidence@dcms.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Pre-release access
A document is provided that contains a list of ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours.
Contact
The responsible analyst for this release is Nicholas Hamilton Wu.
For further details about the estimates, or to be added to a distribution list for future updates, please email us at evidence@dcms.gov.uk.
Published 16 July 2026