The Economic Value of the Heritage Sector

The gross value added (GVA) of England’s heritage sector

England's heritage sector’s direct contribution to the England's GVA in 2023 stood at £15.9 billion. This is expected to face a slight decline to £15.7 billion in 2024 provisional estimates. The 2023 GVA figure is equivalent to 0.75% of England’s total GVA. 

• England's heritage sector supported £39.9 billion in 2023 when considering the combined effects of the direct GVA (£15.9 billion), indirect GVA (£15.8 billion) and induced GVA (£8.2 billion) contributions
• Provisional figures for 2024 are £39.4 billion when considering the combined effects of the direct GVA (£15.7 billion), indirect GVA (£15.6 billion) and induced GVA (£8.1 billion) contributions
• When comparing this sector to other sectors, the heritage sector performs well. Using 2023 direct GVA figures, the heritage sector comes second after the sports sector with £17.49 billion. The arts sector is valued at £8.45 billion 
• Overall, for every £1 of GVA that the sector directly generates, an additional £1.51 is added into the wider economy. This is driven by indirect (from the supply chain) and induced spending impacts, which occur when sector employees, visitors and businesses spend in the wider economy

Heritage sub-sectors in 2023

• The construction industry remains the largest constituent heritage sub-sector in 2023, generating £7.29 billion GVA. The next largest industry - libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities - continue to contribute significantly less at almost £1.17 billion
• The top 3 constituent sub-sectors (construction; libraries, archives and museums; and architectural and engineering activities) combined form over 80% of the aggregated GVA of England’s heritage sector. The present analysis excludes the spillover impact of the heritage sector on the tourism economy. There is robust research [2] to showcase the additional economic activity supported by heritage in the tourism sector. For a detailed analysis, please read the Heritage and the Visitor Economy

The regional contribution in 2023

• The heritage sector in London alone supported a total of £8 billion in GVA in 2023, through direct, indirect and induced contributions
• The South East recorded the highest aggregate GVA multiplier (2.67); the West Midlands had the lowest (2.31), attributable to a low induced multiplier (0.45 compared to the national average of 0.51). This suggests that expenditure by employees supported directly and indirectly by heritage activity generates relatively limited additional economic activity within the region

Employment in the heritage sector

In 2023, the heritage sector directly employed approximately 245,000 workers, constituting 0.87% of England's workforce. Employment levels are expected to further increase to 251,000 in the provisional estimates for 2024. 

For 2023:

• Archives and museums activities sector contributed the largest to heritage employment, supporting 47,000 jobs.
• For every worker directly employed in the heritage sector in 2023, a further 1.2 workers is supported in the wider UK
• There are around 205,000 people supported indirectly, employed in the supply chain industries catering to the heritage sector. Further, around 96,000 additional jobs are supported by the heritage sector via spending in the wider economy. In total, 546,000 jobs are supported by the heritage sector in the wider English economy

The regional distribution of heritage employment in 2023

• The heritage sector in the South East supported the largest number of workers in 2023 (around 104,100), with 45,000 directly employed in the sector
• The North East with 9,000 workers directly employed had the lowest aggregate number of employees supported by the heritage sector

The heritage sector displays strong future growth prospects

The heritage sector GVA has grown at an annual rate of 2.4% since 2011, its total GVA increasing by 38% between 2011 and 2023. Provisional estimates for 2024 based on observed labour market data and estimated productivity growth suggest a slight decline in GVA (-1.2%) but growth in employment (+2%) relative to 2023 levels.

There has been a significant rise in the productivity of the heritage sector over the years too, estimated as value added per job. It increased from £51,000 in 2011 to £65,000 in 2023, a 27% increase; compared to the 7.5% increase for the whole UK economy.

Notably, heritage sector spending also supports higher-productivity industries outside the sector such as construction, wholesale trade, architectural and engineering services. On average, a job supported by the heritage sector contrbutes £71,000 in GVA for the English economy.

The sectoral growth trend is expected to continue with untapped opportunities that could drive future expansion. 

• Recent research by Historic England found the historic environment boosts economic growth at a local level, through its impact on the visitor economy and property markets (England’s Geology Helps Reveal the Economic Value of Historic Buildings). Places in England with 10% higher heritage buildings performed better by 0.5-0.6% in GVA growth over 2010-2023 period.
• The UK’s Creative Industries strategy released last year aims to make the country a global leader in the field by 2035, doubling sectoral investment and growth. The strong interlinkages between the creative sector and the heritage sector imply substantial positive spillovers for the sector. 
• Strategic investments reusing historic buildings, technological advancements in heritage specialist construction services could be key to achieving UK’s environmental goals while preserving cultural heritage. Such efforts could also stimulate economic growth, create skilled jobs, enhance community resilience, and promote innovation, positioning the heritage sector as a driver for future sustainable transition towards a low carbon UK economy.

In conclusion, beyond preserving our rich history, England's heritage sector significantly contributes to the economy. The sector's GVA figures, direct and indirect job opportunities, and significance for future growth and development, highlight its continuing importance to the English economy.

Footnotes

[1] Gross value added (GVA) measures the contribution made to an economy by one individual producer, industry, sector or region. The figure is a quantitative assessment of the value of goods and services produced minus the cost of inputs and materials used in the production process. It is used in the calculation of gross domestic product (GDP).

[2] The methodology applied to determine heritage-specific tourism utilises an activities-based categorisation of tourist trips to estimate the appropriate portion of total expenditure and visits due to the heritage sector.

References

1. Cebr (2024). 'The heritage sector in England and its impact on the economy: An updated report for Historic England'. (Accessed: 13.10.24)
2. Deloitte (2023). 'Estimating economic multipliers for the screen industries in four Latin American countries'. (Accessed: 17.11.2023)
3. Lemma, A.F (2014). ‘Tourism Impacts: Evidence of Impacts on employment, gender, income’. (Accessed: 20.08.23)
4. ONS (2026) 'Census 2021: LFS: In employment: England' (Accessed: 15.06.26)