Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate her Department has made of the contribution of sport and sporting activities to the economy.

The government is committed to supporting economic growth in the sector, and ensuring this translates into tangible outcomes that span grassroots participation through to elite performance. In turn, this can help stimulate the contribution sport makes to growing the national economy.

The government’s previous Sport Satellite Account estimated that the gross value added (GVA) of the sport sector in 2019 was £48.9 billion. This marked an increase of 2.9% between 2018 and 2019, and of 20.4% between 2010 and 2019, in real terms. In addition, major sporting events have significant benefits for the national economy and for attracting investment to the UK. The hosting of the 2022 events (excluding Commonwealth Games), had a direct economic impact of £132 million, supported 1,600 jobs and had a 6:1 return on investment. The short-term impact alone of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games contributed almost £871 million GVA to the UK economy.

In our new sport strategy, Get Active, we have set out our ambition to deliver a new economic snapshot that articulates the economic value and growth opportunities that exist within sport in the UK. This will replace the previous government Sport Satellite reporting mechanism.