The number of filled jobs in the United Kingdom’s Digital Sector reached approximately 1.81 million in calendar year 2025. An estimate published on 1 October by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport points to an increase of about 38,000 jobs, or 2.1%, from 2024. Across the UK economy, filled jobs rose from 34.07 million to 34.46 million, an estimated gain of 388,000, or 1.1%. The Digital Sector accounted for 5.2% of all UK filled jobs in both years. These figures count jobs that were filled, not distinct people.

The rise followed a fall in the previous year. In the departments’ series, Digital Sector filled jobs fell by about 120,000, or 6.3%, from 2023 to 2024. Between 2024 and 2025, the largest increase was in film, TV, video, radio and music, which added 23,000 filled jobs, a rise of 11.1%. Computer programming, consultancy and related activities added 17,000, or 1.6%; publishing, excluding translation and interpretation, added 11,000, or 8.3%. Together, those three subsectors gained about 51,000 jobs, more than the sector’s net increase of 38,000. Losses in other subsectors pulled down the total, led by a fall of about 18,000 jobs, or 18%, in manufacturing of electronics and computers.

Although the release is titled ‘Economic Estimates: Employment in the Digital Sector’, its measure is a weighted estimate of filled jobs from survey responses. It covers full-time and part-time jobs held by employees and self-employed workers. The Annual Population Survey records a person’s first job and, where applicable, second job separately. A person with two Digital Sector jobs can therefore be counted twice; the technical note says such repeat counting makes up less than 4% of the sector total. The 1.81 million estimate does not mean 1.81 million different people.

The statistical scope is also narrower than every role that might commonly be described as digital work. The definition combines information and communication technology with content and media activities, following an OECD information-society approach and UK Standard Industrial Classification codes from 2007. It includes electronics manufacturing and wholesale, software and print publishing, film and broadcasting, telecommunications, computer programming and consultancy, information services, and repair of computers and communications equipment. Digital work inside other industries, such as healthcare or construction, is not included when the employer’s activity falls outside those codes. The departments also warn that the 2007 classification may not capture newer activities such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence accurately.

The release’s statistical status is a central reason to read the figures cautiously. Earlier releases were Accredited Official Statistics, but the regulator removed accreditation after the Office for National Statistics raised quality concerns about estimates for small groups in its survey. The 2025 release is classified as ‘Official Statistics in Development’. It retains that status because the underlying Annual Population Survey data were classified that way when published, even though the ONS has since reviewed the status it will use for future survey-based outputs. Falling survey response rates leave estimates for a small group such as the Digital Sector more dependent on fewer responses, weighted to represent a larger population. Small changes in responses can make estimates volatile.

To help users assess robustness, the departments published coefficients of variation and confidence intervals. For the 2025 Digital Sector total, the 95% confidence interval runs from 1.74 million to 1.87 million filled jobs. Its width increased from 100,000 jobs in 2019 to 130,000 in 2025. The departments did not test whether year-to-year changes were statistically significant, so apparent movement may reflect sampling variability as well as an underlying change in employment. The intervals also do not capture every source of uncertainty, including possible weighting inaccuracies or changes in survey mode. The departments report that APS-based estimates diverged from estimates derived from other sources from 2019 onward and advise users to consult a range of evidence. The business-based Business Register and Employment Survey can provide a comparison for industrial sectors, though it does not cover self-employed workers or provide the same detailed demographic breakdowns. The 2.1% increase should therefore be treated as an estimate published with explicit quality caveats, not as definitive evidence of a turning point.