The UK digital sector is now £177bn of output
DSIT put digital sector gross value added at £177.2bn for 2024, about 6.8 per cent of the whole economy. The skills pipeline has not kept pace with it.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology estimates the UK digital sector produced £177.2 billion in gross value added in 2024, roughly 6.8 per cent of the economy. It is one of the larger sectors in the country and it is not a niche any more.
The supply side has not matched it
Skills England's assessment of digital and technology found that 36 per cent of vacancies in AI relevant occupations go unfilled because of skills shortages. Across the wider economy the Department for Education's Employer Skills Survey put skill shortage vacancies at 27 per cent of all vacancies, around 250,500 roles.
Put plainly: the sector is large, growing, and short of people. That is the backdrop to every hiring conversation a digital or creative business is currently having.
Why this favours growing your own
When a skill is scarce, buying it on the open market is the most expensive route and the least reliable. The employers coping best are the ones who identified people already inside the business with the aptitude, and trained them into the role.
- Digital apprenticeship starts reached 31,410 in 2024/25, more than double 2020/21
- That is 8.9 per cent of all apprenticeship starts in England
- The route is established enough to be predictable, which matters when you are planning a team
Sources: DSIT, Economic estimates, digital sector annual gross value added, February 2026. Skills England, Digital and Technologies sector skills needs assessment, 2025. DfE, Employer Skills Survey 2024 and Apprenticeships 2024/25.