Creative industry in growth period according to latest figures.

Leisure is the growth area for the creative industries according to the fifth annual Creative Industries Economic Estimates bulletin.    

The three boom areas of creative industry are iSoftware, Computer Games & Electronic Publishing; Radio & TVand Art & Antiques according to latest government figures.

The annual Creative Industries Economic Estimates bulletin, published at the end of last month, revealed these areas showed above average growth; Software, Computer Games & Electronic Publishing (9% p.a.), Radio & TV (8% p.a.) and Art & Antiques (7% p.a.).

Other findings showed:

The Creative Industries accounted for 7.3% of Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2004.
The Creative Industries grew by an average of 5% per annum between 1997 and 2004. This compares to an average of 3% for the whole of the economy over this period.

Exports by the Creative Industries totalled £13 billion in 2004. This equated to 4.3% of all goods and services exported.

More than a third (36%) of the total Creative Industries exports was contributed by the Software, Computer Games & Electronic Publishing sector.

In the summer quarter of 2005, creative employment totalled 1.8 million jobs. This comprised just over 1 million jobs in the Creative Industries and a further 780,000 creative jobs within businesses outside these industries.

Total creative employment increased from 1.6m in 1997 to 1.8m in 2005, an average growth rate of 2% per annum, compared to 1% for the whole of the economy over this period.

Software, Computer Games & Electronic Publishing showed the largest increase in employment between 1997 and 2005 with an average growth rate of 6% per annum. The Design sector, including Designer Fashion, also showed an increase above the overall average for the Creative Industries over the period (5% per annum).

In 2005, there were an estimated 117,500 businesses in the Creative Industries on the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). This represents 7.2% of all companies on the IDBR, although the true proportion of enterprises that are in the Creative Industries is likely to be higher as certain sectors such as Crafts contain predominantly small businesses - see Annex C for further detail.

Around two-thirds of the businesses in the Creative Industries are contained within two sectors Software, Computer Games and Electronic Publishing (51,200 companies) and Music and the Visual & Performing Arts (29,000 companies).