Research has revealed that the UK is an engineering powerhouse, with the profession generating up to an estimated £645bn gross value added (GVA) to the UK’s economy annually – equivalent to 32% of the country’s economic output.

  • The research unveiled on National Engineering Day on November 2, which aims to celebrate the achievements of the profession and inspire the next generation of engineers
  • More than eight million people work in the nation’s engineering economy, the research reveals
  • Hotspots of engineering appear all over the UK, with a high proportion of local populations of Mid Ulster, West Cumbria, and Flintshire and Wrexham working in the profession

Research has revealed that the UK is an engineering powerhouse, with the profession generating up to an estimated £645bn gross value added (GVA) to the UK’s economy annually – equivalent to 32% of the country’s economic output. The research has been released by the Royal Academy of Engineering on National Engineering Day, which aims to celebrate UK engineering and highlight the importance of the profession and its impact on people’s lives.

The research, conducted by Metro Dynamics for a project commissioned by the Royal Academy of Engineering, also reveals:

  • Hotspots of engineering appear all over the UK, not just in major cities: Mid Ulster, West Cumbria, Flintshire and Wrexham, West Lothian, and Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are the areas where the highest proportion of the local population is employed in engineering
  • More than 8.1 million people – or over a quarter of all UK workers (26%) – are part of the nation’s engineering economy
  • The UK has 729,000 engineering businesses – equivalent to more than one in 10 (13%) of all UK businesses
  • On average, the annual economic output generated from an engineering job is estimated to be 23% higher than the average job in the UK

Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, comments: “Engineering touches our lives every single day – even if we often don’t notice it. Listening to music on your phone or digital radio, flicking on the kettle for a cup of tea, or making a slice of toast are only possible thanks to the work of engineers. And they’re also improving lives at a global scale: engineers made it possible to manufacture and distribute Covid-19 vaccines to people around the world and are playing a major role in enabling progress towards net zero.

“On National Engineering Day, we want to celebrate the UK’s engineers and showcase how they are improving our lives for the better. This new research emphasises the economic impact of the sector right across the UK, revealing how important engineering is for employment and prosperity in a wide range of regions. Through their work in these regions, these engineers will also be improving healthcare, providing secure and sustainable energy and contributing towards a sustainable and equitable future for people across the UK and beyond. Put simply, they are playing a vital role in tackling the problems we face today and improving our lives for tomorrow. However, if the profession is to continue to drive change, we need more people from a wider range of backgrounds to choose engineering. Through National Engineering Day we hope to inspire the next generation of engineers to join this future-shaping profession.”

The research has uncovered 13 engineering hotspots across the country, (see map opposite), regions where a high proportion of the population – between one-in-three and one-in-two adults – are employed in the engineering economy. Hotspots include:

  • Mid Ulster
  • West Cumbria
  • Flintshire and Wrexham
  • Aberdeenshire
  • Derby
  • East Lancashire

The Academy has created a map of these hotspots across the country – with the darker shade of red indicating areas that have the highest concentration of people working in the engineering economy, with the yellow indicating lower areas of concentration.

Engineering is driving local economies nationwide

The research also demonstrates that engineering is driving economic value across the UK. Areas benefitting economically from engineering include:

  • Aberdeenshire: engineering generates more than £6bn (£6,565,044,338) GVA annually for the region. Over 100,000 people (101,583) are employed within the sector and there are over 8,000 engineering businesses (8,320) in the historic county.
  • Glasgow: engineering contributes more than £6bn (£6,078,961,808) each year to the local economy and provides employment for just under 100,000 people (96,767). Scotland’s port city also plays host to just under 5,000 engineering businesses (4,735).
  • Edinburgh: with an engineering workforce of almost 74,000 (73,419) and almost 5,000 (4,995) engineering businesses, Scotland’s capital city benefits from more than £5bn (£5,795,771,141) in GVA from engineering each year.