Canada's arts economy in 2023: A broad view
Part 2 of my analysis of national data from 2012 to 2023 related to jobs, revenues, and direct impact on GDP
Today’s post delves into economic indicators in 2023 for my best approximation of “the arts” from a national dataset. I also highlight economic changes between 2012 and 2023. This follows my post two weeks ago on the overall cultural sector.
The measurement of “the arts” here is imperfect and partial – a measurement of convenience rather than a measurement specifically designed to capture all facets of the arts. It’s my combination, not one that comes from Statistics Canada.
In this post, the “arts” include five specific areas that are called “domains” and “subdomains” in Statistics Canada’s National Culture Indicators:
The live performance domain, which includes performing arts as well as cultural festivals and celebrations
Specific subdomains related to the visual arts, including crafts, photography, original visual art, and art reproductions (but not the separate subdomains for architecture, advertising, and design)
The books subdomain (but not separate subdomains for newspapers, periodicals, and other published works)
The film & video subdomain (but not separate subdomains for broadcasting and interactive media)
The sound recording domain, which includes music publishing
Two important elements that are excluded from this count are broad categories that span the entire arts, culture, and heritage sector:
All government-owned arts venues, funding, and support organizations, which are included in the very broad category of “governance, funding, and professional support”
Education and training
Because of these exclusions, today’s statistics should be considered a minimum measurement of the revenues and impacts of the arts. The areas covered in today’s post represent between one-quarter and one-third of overall revenues in the arts, culture, and heritage. This is lower than it would be with a more complete measurement of the arts.
Four of the five areas covered today will be the subject of a future post: live performance, visual arts, books, and film & video. Sound recording will not be examined separately, because it is the area with the lowest economic output.
As was the case two weeks ago, three key indicators are included:
Output (essentially an estimate of total revenues)
Direct impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Jobs
I analyze the output and GDP statistics in three ways: 1) as published by Statistics Canada; 2) adjusted for inflation; and 3) adjusted for both inflation and population growth.
Other notes to keep in mind, which are mandatory if you didn’t read my previous economic post, are at the end of this article.
$35 billion in revenues
Total revenues in the arts, using my imperfect and partial measurement, were $34.5 billion in 2023, which is a 37% increase from 2012 ($25.3 billion).
The direct impact of the arts on GDP was $12.6 billion in 2023, a 22% increase from 2012 ($10.3 billion).
In 2023, there were 198,300 full-time and part-time jobs in the arts, a 12% increase from the 176,400 jobs in 2012.
These relatively large percentage changes are based on the “nominal” figures, before adjusting for inflation or population growth. I’ll do those adjustments below. But first…
Revenues by area of the arts
Today’s first graph provides a breakdown of output (total revenues) in areas of the arts that are captured and well defined in Statistics Canada’s data. The broader visual arts, including crafts and photography, account for the largest share of revenues in the arts in 2023: $14.0 billion, or 41%. Next are film and video, with $11.3 billion in revenues (33%) and live performances ($5.8 billion, or 17%). The final two areas represent much smaller shares of total revenues for my imperfect and partial estimate of the arts: books ($2.1 billion, or 6%) and sound recording ($1.3 billion, or 4%).
The arts economy over time, adjusted for inflation and population growth
Output (or total revenues)
The following graph shows three measurements of total revenues: the nominal estimates, inflation-adjusted ones, and ones that are adjusted for both inflation and population growth.
Each of the three lines in the graph are index values. They all start at 100 in 2012, the first year of comparable data.