The direct economic impact of culture in 2019

In 2019, the direct economic impact of culture, i.e. the total value-added of all areas of culture, amounted to some 49.2 billion euros. The proportional value of culture within the economy as a whole is 2.3%, remaining stable since 2013.The decline of the book publishing and the press sector in particular continues to impact sector growth. Culture’s value-added has been sustained by the largest sector, audiovisual (28% of the value-added of all the cultural sectors combined), along with the visual arts and cultural heritage. In 2019, the value of the performing arts (15% of all cultural sectors) exceeded that of the press and publishing sectors for the first time (14%). The cultural sectors employed 692,900 people in 2018 (i.e. 2.6% of the working population), mainly in the press and publishing sector (19%), the visual arts (15%) and audiovisual (15%). One third of those working in the cultural sector are self-employed, as compared with 12% of working population.