The launch of the ADS Industry Facts and Figures 2019 is the opportunity to showcase the size, scale and success of our industries. This annual release of the ADS Industry Facts and Figures sets out the strength of our sectors, their contribution to the UK’s growth over the last year as well as insights on how industry and government can continue to work together.

The UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space industries collectively make a significant and valuable contribution to both our economic prosperity and national security. Estimates for 2018 show that the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors generated £78bn of turnover and contributed £30bn in value added to the UK economy, including an extensive £44bn of exports. Together they employed over 374,000 people in direct roles, including 12,000 apprentices.

 

 

Our sectors have a vast reach across the whole of the UK, with a presence in every nation across every region, with an estimated 1,000,000 jobs supported throughout the country. This activity is part of the success story for sectors where the majority of jobs are beyond London and the South East and the average wage of someone in any of the four sectors is consistently above that of the average UK salary.

The latest estimates show that since 2010 all four industries have grown their individual turnover figures and impressively, at a time when the UK is more generally experiencing ‘poor productivity performance’, all four sectors have seen an increase in productivity compared to eight years ago.

Ongoing investment in innovation, skills and supply chains ensures that ADS membership of more than 1,000 companies are competing successfully in global markets, create high value jobs and apprenticeships, and are pioneers of modern and advancing technology.

Continued collaboration across Government and industry is essential to the delivery a prosperous and competitive environment for the UK aerospace, defence, security and space industries in the future. Details of sector partnerships are set out in the guide which highlights the efforts of industry and Government across all four industries: Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP); Defence Growth Partnership (DGP); Security and Resilience Growth Partnership (SRGP); and Space Growth Partnership (SGP).