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DCMS Productivity
DCMS output per hour trails UK average by 13 pounds
DCMS sectors record 34 pounds hourly
UK average stands at 47 pounds
Stock video by The Vanity Photography Co
DCMS Sector Productivity Estimates Show Gap With UK Average
Official statistics in development published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport provide measures of labour productivity across DCMS sectors, according to the DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Productivity release. The publication was updated on 5 November 2026 to add regional productivity estimates covering 2019 to 2024, following the Office for National Statisticsregional GDP estimates issued on 23 September.
Output per hour in DCMS sectors stood at 34 pounds, against 47 pounds for the UK as a whole, while output per job was 55,000 pounds compared with 75,000 pounds nationally. The release indicates that DCMS sectors therefore require more hours of work or jobs to generate the same amount of gross value added as the UK average.
On a provisional basis, output per hour in the included DCMS sectors fell by around 1.5% between 2023 and 2024, compared with a decline of about 1.0% for the overall UK economy. Output per job in DCMS sectors decreased by 0.9% over the same period, while output per job for the UK economy overall was unchanged.
Measured against 2019, output per hour in the included DCMS sectors was estimated to be 2.2% higher, close to the 2.5% increase recorded for the UK as a whole. Over the same span, annual output per job in DCMS sectors fell by 1.6%, whereas the UK economy overall posted a 2.0% increase.
Regional figures show the highest DCMS sector output per hour in London at 62 pounds, below the London all-industries average of 66 pounds. Wales recorded the lowest at 20 pounds per hour, against an all-industries average in Wales of 38 pounds. Regional estimates exclude tourism and civil society because suitable data are unavailable.
The release notes that productivity varies by sector and subsector. It also cautions that GVA, while comparable and widely available, can produce apparently lower productivity values for parts of DCMS sectors such as museums, libraries and civil society, where goods and services are often provided free at the point of consumption and carry wider cultural and societal benefits.
Following machinery of government changes in July 2026, Digital Sector Economic Estimates are transferring from the former Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to DCMS. Definitions in the publication are unchanged and the estimates do not include the digital sector; the two series of economic estimates are to be brought together in due course.
The statistics are labelled official statistics in development. They draw on ONS datasets for output per hour worked and output per job, which are based on the Labour Force Survey and have been affected by falling sample sizes, as have Annual Population Survey estimates of hours worked. Accreditation of ONS statistics based on the Annual Population Survey was temporarily suspended on 9 October 2024, and the release states this implies greater uncertainty in the DCMS sector estimates.
Estimates for 2024 are provisional and may change with ONS GVA revisions in Blue Book 2026 and as further data become available in 2027. The GVA data used for the regional estimates were not revised after the ONS Blue Book 2026 publication on 30 October and remain consistent with Blue Book 2025 and the DCMS Sector Annual GVA 2024 release. The release also advises against direct comparison with previously published estimates, since the underlying data have been substantially revised.
DCMS said it will seek user feedback on the usefulness of the statistics, the suitability of the methodology and the clarity of communication, with further methodological improvements planned by the next annual productivity release, expected in 2027. At that point an assessment will be made on whether the statistics remain in development. Feedback on the regional estimates is invited by 15 January 2027. The responsible analyst for the release is Rachel Moyce.
