With the UK Government’s forthcoming industrial strategy highlighting the creative industries as a key sector for both investment and growth, this new report on ‘Foreign Direct Investment’ couldn’t be timelier. Our ‘State of the Nations’ report confirms the UK’s global position as a world-leading destination for FDI into the creative industries, yet points to a decline in creative sector FDI into the UK from a peak in 2019; suggesting the need for the Industrial Strategy to focus on initiatives for both attracting inward and generating outward FDI as a policy priority.
The report from our research consortium team at Newcastle University finds:
- On average, 10% of all inward UK FDI projects between 2013 – 2023 are accounted for by the creative industries, highlighting the importance of the sector. A similar pattern is found for outward FDI.
- The UK is second only to the USA for the location and generation of FDI creative projects globally.
- Against the backdrop of an incoming Trump administration, it is noteworthy that the USA is the main source of investment, providing nearly 45% of all inward FDI in the UK.
- The creative industries share of inward FDI overall has fallen from a peak of 12% in 2021.