Changes in the direct economic impact of the arts and culture between 2019 and the summer of 2022

The performing arts remain furthest away from full recovery

This analysis has been rendered somewhat obsolete by significant revisions to the 2022 quarterly data that were made in the first quarter of 2023. Please refer instead to my September 2023 analysis of the first quarter data from 2023 (link to be provided when that post is published). For example, the GDP impact of the overall cultural sector in the second quarter of 2022 was revised downward from $14.3 to $12.3 billion.

Today, I update my analysis of the direct impact of the arts and culture on Gross Domestic Product (GDP, or net value-added to the economy), based on Statistics Canada’s National Culture Indicators from the third quarter of 2022 (i.e., July through September, released on January 18).

I’ll look at the GDP estimates for:

• Performing arts

• Visual 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

As was the case in the previous quarter, I’ll examine two key questions:

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

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

The statistics in this post have been adjusted for inflation and therefore represent “real” changes in GDP. Only Canada-wide statistics are available on a quarterly basis.

Another important note: Statistics Canada has revised data from the first and second quarters of 2022 – mostly small downward decreases in the arts. This means that the arts sector was slightly worse off earlier in 2022 than I highlighted in my previous posts (e.g., my GDP post from the second quarter here).

There are many differences in the economic recovery for various areas of the arts, with the performing arts continuing to be the area that is furthest from full recovery.

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Culture (overall) and the arts

Note: The measurement of “the arts” here is imperfect. For example, government-owned arts venues and organizations are included in a government-specific category, not in arts subsectors. Education and training organizations also have their own category. For these reasons, my estimate should be viewed as a measurement of convenience rather than one specifically designed to capture all facets of the arts.

What’s included?

• Culture = all nine Statistics Canada domains within the arts, culture, and heritage, i.e., live performance + visual & applied arts + written & published works + audiovisual & interactive media + sound recording + heritage & libraries + governance, funding & professional support + education & training + multi domain. See the end of this post for descriptions.

• Arts (partial measurement) = my combination of five areas, i.e., visual arts + performing arts + books + film & video + sound recording. I analyze each of these five areas in this post.