This briefing presents estimates of economic output and employment for the eight priority sectors in the government’s Industrial Strategy (the ‘IS-8’).
The government’s Industrial Strategy, published on 23 June 2025, sets out a 10-year plan to drive economic growth through eight high-growth sectors known as the IS-8. These sectors were identified by the government as having strong potential to raise productivity, support high-value employment and strengthen economic resilience.
The eight sectors are:
Although the IS-8 sectors are central to the Industrial Strategy, the government has not published economic output or employment estimates for each of the eight sectors.
The government does publish quarterly updates, most recently for Q3 2025, which provide analysis of overall IS-8 performance, but not of individual sectors.
Many IS-8 sectors do not align cleanly with standard economic datasets.
The government has published definitions for each of the IS-8 sectors and most are defined wholly or partly using Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.
Much of the UK’s standard economic data on industries is organised using SIC codes, which classify businesses according to their main activity and are used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to publish data on output, employment and productivity.
SIC codes are hierarchical and can be defined at different levels of detail. For example, a broad two-digit SIC code covers a wide industry group, while more detailed four- and five-digit SIC codes sit beneath it and describe more specific activities.
These SIC codes have not been updated since 2007. This means some newer sectors of the economy, such as fintech or clean energy technologies, are not fully captured by SIC codes.
Some IS-8 sectors are defined using more detailed SIC codes but standard data is not always published at that level. Other sectors do not map well to SIC codes at all.
In these cases, this briefing uses alternative government and trade body sources that define and report activities in different ways and across different metrics and reporting years. As a result, the estimates are not directly comparable with SIC-based figures and should not be used to compare sectors.
The figures in this briefing are intended to give a broad sense of sector scale and regional patterns of activity, rather than precise or comprehensive statistical estimates.
The government defines the advanced manufacturing sector as production that applies advanced scientific and technological methods, including digital automation. While advanced processes appear across the wider manufacturing sector, they are concentrated in high-technology subsectors such as computing, electronics and chemicals.
The sector can be measured using standard ONS GVA and employment data, based on the Industrial Strategy SIC code definition for advanced manufacturing.
In 2024, the UK had an estimated 721,000 advanced manufacturing jobs, accounting for 2% of all UK jobs. The sector generated £80.6 billion in GVA, equivalent to 6% of total UK GVA.
The table below shows the regional and national breakdown.
Sources: ONS, Regional gross value added (balanced) by industry: all ITL regions, April 2025, Table 1c; NISRA, NI Business Register and Employment Survey, 2022, Table 2.3; ONS, Business Register and Employment Survey, via Nomis
Note: The regional GVA estimates also includes the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (SIC 19). This is grouped with chemicals (SIC 20) in the source data, so the estimate is slightly broader than the Industrial Strategy definition.
Clean energy industries support the transition to clean power, including associated supply chains, manufacturing, construction and specialist services. These activities are distributed across multiple SIC codes and cannot be separately identified using standard datasets.
The Industrial Strategy identifies the ONS Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE) survey as the primary source for tracking employment in the sector. LCREE provides the best available estimates, although it publishes data only on turnover and full-time equivalent (FTE) employment at UK and country level.
It also applies a broader definition of clean energy than some alternative sources, describing the LCREE as “economic activities that deliver goods and services likely to help the UK generate lower greenhouse gas emissions.”
In 2023, there were an estimated 314,000 FTE LCREE jobs in the UK.
The table below shows the number of LCREE jobs by country.
Source: ONS, Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy, 2025, Tab: LCREE by country.
The Industrial Strategy adopts the same definition of the creative industries used by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in its SIC code definition for the sector.
This definition covers a wide range of activities. It includes arts and cultural sectors as well as commercial and digital fields such as advertising, architecture, design and publishing. It also includes IT, software and computer services, which encompasses video games development.
Further background is available in the Library briefing on creative industries.
The SIC codes used in the Industrial Strategy definition are too detailed to map directly onto standard economic datasets. DCMS economic estimates are therefore used for both GVA and employment, as the best available estimates for the creative industries sector.
Employment figures in this section include self-employment, unlike the employment estimates used elsewhere in this briefing. This is particularly relevant for the creative industries, which have relatively high levels of self-employment. (House of Commons Library, Creative Industries, page 8)
In 2023, the creative industries generated £124 billion in gross value added, accounting for 5% of total UK GVA. In 2024, the sector supported an estimated 2.4 million jobs, or 7% of all UK employment. This includes 696,000 self-employed roles, representing 29% of jobs in the industry.
The table below provides the breakdown by region and country.
Sources: DCMS, DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates: Regional GVA 2023, Table 3a; DCMS, Economic Estimates: Employment January 2024 to December 2024 for DCMS Sectors, Table 15.
Note: The jobs estimates from DCMS are based on the ONS Annual Population Survey (APS). The APS data is classed as “official statistics in development” due to temporarily suspended accreditation and reduced reliability for smaller regional samples.
The defence sector covers activities supporting defence customers in the UK and overseas, spanning aerospace, shipbuilding, weapons manufacturing, electronics, communications and data-driven services. These activities are spread across many SIC codes and standard datasets do not distinguish defence from civilian work.
Further background is available in the Library briefing on the contribution of the defence industry to UK regions and countries.
A report on the defence sector by the Aerospace, Defence and Space Group (ADS) estimates that the defence industry directly supported 182,000 FTE jobs in 2024 and contributed £15 billion to the economy, around 0.6% of total UK GVA.
Data for the regional breakdown is drawn from figures supplied by the ADS Group, produced using ONS sources and industry information.
Sources: ADS, ADS Defence Sector UK Outlook 2025, page 9 and House of Commons Library correspondence with ADS.
The digital and technologies sector develops and applies advanced technologies and digital tools to drive transformative changes in the economy and society.
Employment estimates for the sector are based on standard ONS employment data using the Industrial Strategy SIC code definition for digital and technologies.
Using this definition, there were an estimated 2.3 million jobs in the UK digital and technologies sector in 2024.
The SIC codes used in the Industrial Strategy definition are too detailed to be matched directly to standard GVA data. However, as the Industrial Strategy builds on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT) framework for the digital sector, this briefing uses GVA data produced by DSIT as the closest available match.
This data shows that the digital sector generated £160.6 billion in GVA in 2022, equivalent to around 7% of total UK economic output.
Sources: DSIT, Economic Estimates: Digital Sector Regional Gross Value Added (2019 to 2022), NISRA, NI Business Register and Employment Survey, 2022, Table 2.3 ; ONS, Business Register and Employment Survey, via Nomis
Financial services include businesses that manage money and provide financial services to individuals, businesses and governments.
Further background is available in the Library briefing on financial services in the UK.
This sector can be measured using standard ONS GVA and employment data, based on the Industrial Strategy’s SIC code definition for financial services.
In 2024 the sector supported 1.1 million jobs, 3% of all UK jobs and generated £208.8 billion in GVA, 8% of total UK GVA.
Sources: ONS, Regional gross value added (balanced) by industry: all ITL regions, April 2025, Table 1c; NISRA, NI Business Register and Employment Survey, 2022, Table 2.3; ONS, Business Register and Employment Survey, via Nomis
Life sciences include businesses developing or producing pharmaceutical products, medical technologies and digital health tools.
The sector covers diverse technologies and activities that cannot be fully captured using SIC codes. Relevant SIC codes, such as pharmaceutical manufacturing or R&D in biotechnology, reflect only part of the sector.
The Office for Life Sciences (OLS) has developed a bioscience and health technology classification based on a dedicated business survey. This provides a better measure of life sciences activity, although only employment and turnover data is available.
In 2023-24, the UK had an estimated 400,000 life sciences jobs, equivalent to 1% of all UK jobs.
Source: DSIT, Bioscience and health technology sector statistics, Table 7; NISRA, NI Business Register and Employment Survey, 2022, Table 2.3; ONS, Business Register and Employment Survey, via Nomis.
Professional and business services provide specialist advice and support to organisations across the economy.
This sector can be measured using standard ONS GVA and employment data using the Industrial Strategy’s SIC code definition for profession and business sources.
In 2024, it supported 4.5 million jobs, around 14% of all UK jobs, and generated £315.3 billion in GVA, 12% of total UK GVA.
Sources: ONS, Regional gross value added (balanced) by industry: all ITL regions, April 2025, Table 1c; NISRA, NI Business Register and Employment Survey, 2022, Table 2.3; ONS, Business Register and Employment Survey, via Nomis
A Westminster Hall debate on the potential merits of recognising the production and serving of cask ale as Intangible Cultural Heritage has been scheduled for 27 October 2026. The debate will be opened by Jacob Collier MP.
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