Art and its relevance

There are some fascinating facts about the art world that will shock you, leaving you wanting to know more about this unbelievable business and culture in today's reality. 

The UK’s Creative Industries are now worth £84.1 billion per year to the UK economy. That’s 10 million an hour.

• UK’s Creative Industries grew by 8.9 percent in 2014 — almost double the UK economy as a whole.
• UK’s Creative Industries generate nearly £9.6 million per hour.
• 2016 is set to be another blockbuster year for UK’s music, film, video games, TV and publishing sectors.

 The UK’s Creative Industries are now worth a record £84.1 billion to the UK economy, figures published today reveal. British films, music, video games, crafts and publishing are taking a lead role in driving the UK’s economic recovery, according to the latest Government statistics. The figures show the sector growing at almost twice the rate of the wider UK economy — generating £9.6 million per hour. And this success is set to last, with a strong line-up of British talent and creativity promising yet another blockbuster year ahead.

 Now, it's easy to assume that the bulk of this is the movie and TV industries but key findings are:

• The GVA of the Creative Industries was £84.1bn in 2014 and accounted for 5.2 percent of the UK economy.
• Creative Industries Gross Value Added (GVA) increased by 8.9 percent between 2013 and 2014, compared with 4.6 percent for the whole of the UK. This was a higher rate than for any Blue Book sector, with the exception of Construction.
• Creative Industries GVA increased by 37.5 percent between 2008 and 2014, compared with an increase of 18.2 percent for the UK economy as a whole. Between 2008 and 2014, the GVA of the Creative Industries rose by more than any Blue Book sector.
• Between 1997 and 2014, the GVA of the Creative Industries increased by an average of 6.0 percent each year, compared with 4.3 percent for the UK economy. In 1997, the GVA of the Creative Industries was 3.9 percent of UK GVA, rising to 5.2 percent by 2014.
• IT, software and computer services continued to be the largest constituent part of the Creative Industries, accounting for 43.5 percent of the Creative Industries GVA.
• The "Design: product, graphic and fashion design" group had the largest increase in GVA between 2013 and 2014 (16.6 percent).
• In November 2018, there were a total of 3.4 million visits to the Dept for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) sponsored museums and galleries.
• This is an increase of 2.1% (around 69,500 visits) compared with November 2017.
• A record number of people visited the new Tate Modern (the Switch Gallery) in its opening days, with 143,000 visits since the gallery opened on Friday 17 June. On one Saturday alone there were over 54,000 visits to the gallery, around double the usual visitor number and the highest ever attendance for a single day to the museum.

 Then there's the positive effect of culture on destinations like Margate, with the Turner Contemporary alone said to have contributed over £41 million to the local economy. So next time someone suggests that art isn’t important, it might be worth dwelling on these figures.

Now, let us ask you a question: are you interested in art? If so, you should consider learning more about art by choosing art lessons that will suit you best. Additionally, a career in art might require a great deal of knowledge of history. Browse through our rich database of subjects and choose the perfect lessons for you at Tutor Extra.