The Publisher’s Association commissioned Public First to better understand and evaluate the role of the publishing industry in the UK, its potential for further growth, and determine the policies needed to uphold and strengthen publishing’s social, personal, economic and innovative value to the UK. The report can be downloaded here.

Key findings

• Economic impact: the publishing sector contributes £11bn to the UK economy, supporting 84,000 jobs.
• Future growth: with backing from government, the publishing industry can contribute an additional £5.6bn to the UK economy by 2033, with a projected 20% growth in international demand in the same period.
• Policy priorities within three areas: 
  • Growth – includes upholding the UK’s advantageous IP and copyright framework
  • Innovate – includes ensuring the UK is home to world-leading research and innovation
  • Inspire – includes investing in libraries and literacy

Methodology

For the modelling in this  report, Public First drew on a variety of data sources, including internal revenue data from the Publisher Association’s industry insight dashboard, and publicly available data from the Annual Business Survey was used to convert from turnover to GVA. Full details on methodology can be found at the end of the report.

The findings of this report have been featured in the Financial Times and The Bookseller.