The marketing and advertising industry contributes $7.2 billion to the economy in revenue every year, according to a new government report that aims to demonstrate the value of the creative industry.
The combined creative industries, which include film, television and radio, advertising and marketing, design and visual arts as well as architecture, contributed $45 billion to GDP in 2011/12 – more than the contribution made by many traditional industries.
They also contributed $90 billion in turnover and helped generate annual exports of $3.2 billion.
Marketing and advertising accounted for 8% of the revenue contribution ($7.2 billion), 7% of GDP contribution ($3.2 billion) and 10% of exports.
Every dollar in turnover generated by the creative industries results in 3.76 times total revenue for all other industries in the Australian economy. And every dollar in gross regional product generated by the creative sector results in an uplift in total value-added by all industries by a factor of three.
The report aimed to uncover the contribution to Australia's economy, employment, growth of the workforce and its distribution across all sectors of the economy.
Beyond the financial impact, the report also recognises the “undeniable worth” of the intangible impact of creative industries to the nation.
The creative industry is more than 600,000 people strong with more than 123,000 businesses operating. Advertising and marketing is the biggest employer in the sector with 37% share of people working in the creative industries and a 1.7% share of total employees in Australia.
Lisa Colley, CIIC director, said: “This report provides a crucial measure of the growth of the creative workforce in Australia and its distribution across all sectors of the economy. It highlights the exciting opportunities these sectors and skills can offer Australian businesses, they really are becoming a key enabler to the broader economy.”
But the government wants more from the industry’s creative brains.
Minister for Industry, Ian Macfarlane MP, said the next step is to ensure Government draws “links across innovation to ensure we are getting the most out of these creative industries in terms of productivity and global competitiveness”.
Macfarlane added: "This report comes at an important time as we work diligently and intelligently to retain and enhance our creative industries so they can keep doing what they do best – employing smart and hard-working Australians and contributing to the vibrant culture of our country.”
The Valuing Australia’s Creative Industries report was carried out for the Government's Creative Industries Innovation Centre by SGS Economics and Planning.
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