A new report published by the University of Warwick and the Campaign for the Arts pressure group paints a bleak picture of arts funding and education in Britain, highlighting that “the UK has one of the lowest levels of government spending on culture among European nations”.
The document, entitled The State of the Arts, is “a health check on the UK’s arts and culture, bringing together vital information and official statistics on arts funding, provision, engagement, education and employment,” the introduction says, adding: “It serves as a stark warning and a call to action for all of us.”
The new document focuses on government support and investment levels between two comparative periods: 2009-10 and 2022-23. Crucially, the UK ranks among the lowest spenders on culture, both as a percentage of GDP and per person, spending around 0.46% on culture (GDP) compared to 0.74% on average in other European countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development statistics show that Hungary is the top spender with 1.4% allocated to culture). Culture spending per…
