London’s creative industries provide more jobs than the financial services sector – GLA
London's creative industries provide almost 800,000 jobs – more than the financial services sector – and boost the economy by a whopping £35bn.
Yesterday’s findings from GLA Economics, the Greater London Authority's economic research unit, shows that creative industries such as advertising, architecture, IT and publishing now make up 16.3 per cent of total jobs in London.
The industry is growing at a rapid rate. In 2014, there were 795,800 jobs in the creative economy, an increase of 106,300 or 15.4 per cent since 2011.
In comparison, last week's data from TheCityUK showed that a record 729,000 people were employed in financial and professional services in London at the end of June this year, a 2.2 per cent increase on 2014.
GLA Economics' report coincides with London Mayor Boris Johnson's trade visit to the Far East, where he witnessed the success of global British fashion brand Burberry in Japan.
“The creative industries are a great British success story, which is creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in the capital and generating billions for the UK economy,” said Johnson.
Median hourly pay in the creative economy last year was £18.80, compared to a median hourly pay of £15.26 in other industries, according to the report.
Nearly a quarter of creative jobs in the capital are in IT, software and computer services, followed by film, TV, video, radio and photography, which make up 16.5 per cent. Advertising and marketing account for 14.4 per cent.