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The UK has the largest creative sector in the EU and relative to GDP, the largest in the world. The creative industries sector (as defined by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport) is now comparable in size to that of the financial services sector, making up 7.3% of the economy and growing at 5% per year (almost twice the rate of the rest of the economy). 
The sector as a whole directly employs 1.1 million people in the UK with a further 800,000 people working in creative occupations.

Creative Industries, including activities such as film, TV, digital media, printing and publishing, are becoming increasingly important within the Cardiff, Welsh and UK economies. Cardiff is the key driver of the creative economy in Wales, with over 6,750 workers (3.5% of the city’s workforce) employed in this sector in 2005. The city accounts for around one-third of all Welsh creative jobs and creative employment and has increased substantially, by 53.7% between 1991 and 2005.

Cardiff’s creative sector is performing well in relation to other UK core cities. In a report which looked at the competitive position of the city’s Creative Industries, Cardiff was ranked 9th out of 20 UK cities – above Newcastle, Nottingham, Liverpool and Belfast – in terms of the size of contribution made by the creative sector within the local economy. The robustness of the city’s creative sector was further demonstrated at the 2003 Boho Britain Conference, when Cardiff was ranked 9th out of the 40 largest UK cities in terms of creative potential.

The sector is expected to expand over the next 5 -10 years – Cardiff is well positioned to benefit from this growth, especially since BBC Wales has started developing its new drama production centre at the Roath basin site in the heart of Cardiff Bay.  The centre will be home to award-winning dramas such as Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures.  Casualty, will also re-locate from Bristol to Cardiff in 2011. The drama centre plan is part of the BBC's commitment to double television network production from Wales by 2016. Read Jana Bennett, Director, BBC Vision’s speech on ‘Putting programmes on the map’ here.