This report gives estimations on the impact of COVID-19 on key economic and labour data for the creative industries in Wales, the Cardiff Capital Region and in Cardiff (2020-2022).
This updates two earlier Clwstwr reports on the size and composition of the Welsh creative industries analysing data up to 2019 - before COVID-19.
In 2022, there are almost 10,500 active enterprises and – including freelancers - between 68,000 and 90,000 people working in the creative industries in Wales. If we exclude freelancers, the creative industries generated a £3.8bn turnover in 2022, making 5.3% of total Welsh GDP.
Dr Marlen Komorowski said: "Our findings confirm that the creative industries continue to be a significant and growing part of the Welsh economy. Despite being disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 downturn, the creative industries have, overall, been more resilient than other parts of the Welsh economy. Much of this strength, is based on the resilience of the Media clusters in Cardiff and the wider CCR.
"Our analysis showed that COVID-19 caused a 14% decline in creative industries’ turnover. This was followed by a recovery that, over the 2019-2022 period, outpaced the rest of the Welsh economy. Some of Wales’ creative sectors have managed to grow in terms of employment, even in the lockdown year of 2020, such as IT or architecture."
This research report was authored by:
Máté Fodor
Dr Marlen Komorowski, Impact Analyst
