Direct economic impact of the arts and culture: Changes since 2019

Data analysis from the second quarter of 2022

Today’s post looks at the direct impact of the arts and culture on Gross Domestic Product (GDP, or net value-added to the economy), using the same dataset as last week’s post on jobs: Statistics Canada’s National Culture Indicators from the second quarter of 2022 (i.e., April through June). The statistics in this post have been adjusted for inflation and therefore represent “real” changes in GDP. Note that only Canada-wide statistics are available on a quarterly basis.

This post examines two key questions:

• What is the direct economic impact of specific areas of the arts, as well as overall in the arts, culture, and heritage?

• How do the most recent GDP statistics compare with pre-pandemic levels?

The impact on GDP of the arts, culture, and heritage amounted to $14.3 billion in the second quarter of 2022, 5% higher than the level in the fourth quarter of 2021 ($13.6 billion). The impact on GDP climbed above the pre-pandemic level during the fourth quarter of 2021. There are many differences in the economic recovery in various areas of the arts.

I’ll look at the GDP estimates for:

* Visual arts

* Performing arts

* Book publishing

* Film and video

* Sound recording

* The above five sectors combined, which provides an approximation of the arts as a whole

* The overall cultural sector, encompassing the arts, culture, and heritage

Next week, I’ll analyze longer term trends, using the same data source.