Cultural and creative industries employ 29.5 million people in the world
Creative industries are one of the fastest growing branches of economy in the world, employing nearly 30 million people. The share of cultural industries in the global GDP has also increased to three per cent.
The significant contribution of cultural industries to the world economy is analysed in the report Cultural Times. The first global map of cultural and creative industries, published in December 2015. The study by EY (formerly Ernst & Young) was commissioned by CISAC Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies and supported by UNESCO.
The report offers a comprehensive analysis of economy and employment in 11 cultural industry sectors: advertising, architecture, books, gaming, music, movies, newspapers/magazines, performing arts, radio, TV, and visual arts.
According to the report, cultural and creative industries generate one third of the global GDP and 2 250 billion U.S. dollars (approx. 2 070 billion euros) of revenues worldwide. The amount is higher than, for example, the total revenues from data transmission services worldwide.
Cultural and creative industries employ 29.5 million people in the world, which exceeds the number of people employed by the car industries of Europe, Japan and the United States by 4.5 million. The biggest sectors of employment in cultural industries are visual arts, books and music.
Asia-Pacific leader in cultural industries
Geographically viewed, the most significant global region is Asia-Pacific, which accounts for 34 % of the revenues and 40 % of the jobs generated by cultural industries. The gaming sector stands out as the strongest sector of growth. The second most significant global region is Europe, accounting for 25 % of the jobs in and 32 % of the revenues generated by cultural industries. Europe is distinguished by the relatively large contribution of artists to the creative economy. The third most significant global region is North America, which holds the lead in the movie, TV and performing arts sectors.
Fast growth and strong role in digital economy
The study clearly shows that cultural industries are currently the fastest growing branch of economy in the world, with a strong impact on the creation of income and new jobs both in industrial and developing countries.
Sales of cultural content also play a major role in digital sales, with a 200 billion USD share. The sales revenues from, for example, digital cultural goods were 65 billion USD and the advertising revenues from online media and free streaming were 21.7 billion USD.
A summary of and statistics from the report are available at: www.worldcreative.org
