Debate on the UK tech industry following London tech week

There were 1.86 million jobs in the digital sector in October 2021 to September 2022, which was 5.5% of all jobs. The largest sub-sector was the computer programming and related activities sector with 1.03 million jobs, which was 55% of jobs within this sector.

The economic output of the digital sector was 7.7% of total economic output in 2022. The largest sub-sector in terms of economic output was also the computer programming and related activities sector which accounted for 38% of all digital sector output.

In March 2023, economic output (GVA) of the digital sector was 12% above the level in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit the UK economy.

In contrast the economic output of the whole economy has barely grown over the period – it was 0.1% higher in March 2023 than in February 2020.

The government have produced a number of strategies and policies on areas relating to the sector, including:

UK Science and Technology Framework, 6 March 2023

UK's International Technology Strategy, 22 March 2023

UK Digital Strategy, 13 June 2022

AI regulation: a pro-innovation approach (white paper), 29 March 2023