Recent release | 18 Nov 2014

The impact of the Innovation, Research and Technology Sector on the UK economy

Economic Consulting Team

Oxford Economics

Oxford Economics has estimated the contribution of the innovation, research and technology sector to the UK economy, taking into account not only the direct, indirect (supply chain) and induced (employee spending) impacts, but also a range of additional or ‘catalytic’ impacts.

The latter are particularly important for this sector, due to the amount of research and development undertaken by the organisations themselves and to activities enhancing the benefits of R&D undertaken by universities and industry (e.g. through collaboration, networking and the provision of facilities such as technology parks).

Taking all of these impacts into account, we estimate the sector’s contribution to the UK economy in 2013 to have been in the £32-36 billion range, or some 2.3-2.6% of total GDP.​

About the team

Our economic consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques.

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