The Economic Value of the Screen Sector in Scotland in 2023

2023’s economic impact study on the value of the Scottish screen sector and its sub-sectors and activities, plus impact on wider economic activity across Scotland.

Scotland remains home to a vibrant ecosystem of production companies, writers, independent film producers, broadcasters and facilities, creating a wide range of television programming and films for audiences within Scotland, across the UK and around the world.  

In 2024 Screen Scotland published its Strategy to end 2030/31. This strategy targets three interconnected strategic “north stars” for Screen Scotland: economic growth, creative origination from within Scotland, and development of the audience for films and TV programmes from Scotland. 

Bright pink background with a subtle dot pattern. Bold white text reads, "Scotland’s screen sector continues to grow!" Below, it states, "GVA increased by 15% to £718M between 2021 and 2023" in white text with a black background accent.

As part of this commitment to grow the film and TV production sector as well as the wider screen sector in Scotland, Screen Scotland regularly monitors the contribution that the screen sector makes to Scotland’s economy – where the screen sector has been defined as inclusive of film and TV production and development; animation, VFX and post-production; film and TV content sales and distribution; film exhibition and festivals; TV broadcast; screen tourism; film and TV education, skills and talent development; and film and TV production facilities.

The baseline for Screen Scotland’s economic growth target – GVA impact for the screen sector in Scotland’s economy of £1billion by end 2030/31 – was established by the 2019 edition of this report. 

A gradient background with circular patterns transitions from red at the top to blue at the bottom. Large white text at the top-left reads "Production Spend." On the lower right, smaller white text says, "In 2023, £468.3M was spent on film, TV & AV production in Scotland."

Screen Scotland commissioned international consultancies Saffery and Nordicity to prepare a full-scale economic impact study to assess the value of the Scottish screen sector, its sub-sectors and activities, and linkages to and influences on wider economic activity across Scotland.   

The work was undertaken with the support of industry partners including the BFI, ONS, Ofcom, public service broadcasters (PSBs) and VisitScotland.    

This study follows two previous editions, the Economic Value of the Screen Sector in Scotland in 2019 (published in June 2022) and the Economic value of the Screen Sector in Scotland 2021 (published in August 2023), and focuses on film and TV content that is intended for initial release in cinemas; on broadcast, multichannel or TV on-demand (TVOD) services; or subscription VOD (SVOD) services. Video content made primarily for video sharing platforms (e.g. YouTube or TikTok) is not captured.

Blue and purple dotted background with text: "Cinema Recovery. Scotland’s box office rebounded to 80% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, outpacing the UK average."