The Creative Industries Policy Data Sheet of Kreativwirtschaft Austria is prepared by the Institute of Industrial Sciences (IWI) within the framework of the Creative Industries Strategy for Austria. It provides an annual overview of the most relevant economic indicators of the creative industries and shows their development as well as their importance within the overall economy.
In addition, the economic effects are presented with the help of a "satellite account" for the creative industries, which provides a detailed and consistent database.
Creative Industries Policy
Data sheet 2017
Domestic economy benefits from services of the creative industries
The new creative industries policy data sheet of Kreativwirtschaft Austria (KAT) is cause for celebration. More than every tenth company in Austria belongs to the creative industries. In 2015, already more than 42,400 companies can be attributed to the creative sector, which employs a total of about 154,200 people. In 2015, creative industries enterprises generated a remarkable turnover of about EUR 21.9 billion and a gross value added at factor costs of about EUR 9.0 billion. This is a continuation of the positive trend that was already evident in the Seventh Austrian Creative Industries Report.
Structure and development of the creative industries 2008-2015
Creative industries as an engine for the national economy
The creative industries policy data sheet shows that the creative industries function as a dynamising factor for the national economy and permeate numerous other domestic industries along the entire value chain. For every euro of profit generated by the creative industries, an additional euro (EUR 0.97) benefits the Austrian economy on average. For every euro of value added generated in the creative industries, an additional EUR 0.84 of value added is created in the rest of the economy, and every employee in the creative industries secures another 0.76 employees in the Austrian economy.
Dynamics of the creative industries stronger than the economy as a whole
Compared to the economy as a whole, the creative industries show an above-average development. The creative industries are not only developing positively in the short term (2014 to 2015), but also in the long term (2008 to 2015). From 2014 to 2015, the high growth in gross value added is due to the high rate of increase in the areas of software and games as well as advertising. From 2008 to 2015, the turnover of creative industries companies in particular increased more (+15%) than that of the economy as a whole (+6%), whereas the growth of the latter is slightly higher. Especially in the crisis year 2009, a remarkable resilience of creative industries enterprises becomes apparent. During this period, the creative industries are economically more robust than the overall economy.
Development of the creative industries and the overall economy 2008-2015
Software and games at the top
Most of the 110,000 creative employees are to be found in the software and games, advertising, performing arts, book and publishing sectors. Smaller sectors with up to 5,000 employees each are the music industry, radio and TV, and design. Between 2014 and 2015, the advertising sector showed a strikingly dynamic development, but the film industry, design, performing arts market and architecture also recorded a significant increase.
Vienna as a creative hotspot
Vienna continues to be the largest creative hub, accounting for almost half of all 42,402 creative industry enterprises. But also in the other federal provinces, the creative industries are playing an increasingly important role. Vienna generated slightly more than half of the revenues in 2015 with about EUR 12.4 billion, Upper Austria (about EUR 2.3 billion) as well as Lower Austria (about EUR 2.0 billion) generate the largest revenues after the capital.
Further advancing the creative industries strategy
The creative industries policy data sheet clearly shows how well the creative industries sector has established itself as an economic and competitive factor in recent years. KAT hopes that this successful course will continue and appeals to the new federal government to consistently implement the creative industries strategy for Austria.
