JOBS
About 2.5 million jobs
DCMS counted 2,464,000 filled jobs in the creative industries in 2025, 57.8% more than in 2011. Counting creative roles in other sectors too, the creative economy had 4.3 million.
See the numbersWHAT THE FIGURES SAY
Made by small
teams.
Creative work is a big industry made of tiny firms.
Compare the numbers
2.5 MILLIONcreative industry jobs
- Nine subsectors
- Mostly micro firms
- Many self-employed
- The shape of UK creative work
Designers, architects, makers, writers, musicians and coders share one official label: the creative industries. Government statistics show how many people do this work, where they are and how they work.
Updated
THE SHORT ANSWER
A large sector,
built small.
Three facts from official UK statistics
describe how creative work is organised.
BUSINESSES
Mostly tiny firms
In March 2025, 93.4% of the 269,655 creative industries businesses had fewer than 10 employees, compared with 89.1% of all UK businesses.
Compare with the UK
WORKING PATTERN
Many work for themselves
Self-employment made up 28% of creative industries employment from April 2024 to March 2025, twice the 14% across the whole UK workforce.
Ways inA QUICK COMPARISON
How different is
creative work?
Pick a measure to compare the creative industries with the UK economy as a whole. The bar shows how far the creative figure sits from the UK figure.
Official statistics in development, based on survey estimates with margins of error. Small differences may not be significant.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Growing fast,
mostly in tiny firms.
One figure on growth in jobs,
one on the share of the UK's businesses.
+57.8%
Growth in creative industries jobs
Filled jobs in the creative industries rose 57.8% between 2011 and 2025, against 14.4% for all UK jobs. The rise since 2019, 17.3%, was the largest absolute growth of any DCMS sector.
JOBS SINCE 2011 · DCMS
9.9%
Share of all UK registered businesses
The 269,655 creative industries businesses in March 2025 made up 9.9% of UK registered businesses. 77.8% had a turnover under £250,000.
BUSINESSES · DCMS
DCMS says its employment figures are official statistics in development because of falling survey response rates, so treat small year-to-year changes with caution.
FOUR THINGS THE CAREERS GUIDANCE MENTIONS
From sketchbook
to studio.
Using graphic design as an example, the National Careers Service describes several routes in. Most of them come back to the same few habits.
Pick a route that suits you
The guidance lists university courses, such as a foundation degree, HND or degree, and college courses in art, design or creative and digital media.
Build a portfolio
College courses and university careers services help you put together a portfolio that shows your ideas and skills to employers.
Get work experience
Work experience, internships and year placements during a course are described as giving you an advantage when you apply.
Keep learning the tools
A good working knowledge of design, image editing and publishing software is listed as needed for all graphic design jobs.
WHAT COUNTS AS CREATIVE
Nine subsectors,
one definition.
DCMS first defined the creative industries in 2001 as those that have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent. Today an industry normally counts when more than 30% of its workforce do creative occupations, such as designers, producers or games developers.
The nine subsectors are advertising and marketing; architecture; crafts; design and designer fashion; film, TV, video, radio and photography; IT, software and computer services; publishing; museums, galleries and libraries; and music, performing and visual arts.
Questions
Questions people ask
How many people work in the UK creative industries?
DCMS estimates 2,464,000 filled jobs in the creative industries in 2025. Adding creative roles in other industries, the creative economy had about 4.3 million filled jobs.
What is the difference between the creative industries and the creative economy?
The creative industries are a set of industries. The creative economy adds people in creative occupations outside them, such as a marketing professional working in financial services.
Are most creative businesses small?
Yes. In March 2025, 93.4% of creative industries businesses had fewer than 10 employees, and 77.8% had a turnover under £250,000.
Where are creative jobs based?
London had the largest share of creative industries jobs in 2025, at 30.3%, followed by the South East at 16.0%. 33.9% of creative business sites were in London in March 2025.
How reliable are these figures?
DCMS classes its employment estimates as official statistics in development because response rates to the underlying ONS survey have fallen. It publishes confidence intervals and advises caution with detailed breakdowns.
Where the facts come from
- GOV.UK: DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Employment, January 2025 to December 2025
- GOV.UK: DCMS Economic Estimates: Business demographics, 2025, main report
- Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre: Key statistics on the creative industries
- GOV.UK: Economic Estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, April 2024 to March 2025
- National Careers Service: Graphic designer job profile