Expanding evidence

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It has been four years since the value and importance of the market research industry to the UK economy has been properly quantified. But now, with PwC’s report Business of Evidence 2016, an up-to-date and comprehensive review shows that almost 73, 000 people are employed in an industry now worth an annual £4.8bn.

This represents a rise of almost £2bn since 2012, with the addition of close to 14, 000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.

With a growth of 62% since 2012, the UK is now the world’s second-largest market for professional research. This is massively outstripping that of the UK economy as a whole, which has grown 8.7% in the same period.

The study – carried out by Research to Insight (r2i), PwC’s global centre of excellence for market research, and commissioned by the Market Research Society – revealed that the UK research sector contributes just over 0.3% of total UK GDP. 

Its analysis is based on a data review ...