Excerpt:
“The arts and cultural sector grew at more than twice the rate of the total economy between 2022 and 2023, according to new data from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), a product of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
ACPSA tracks the annual economic value of arts and cultural production from 35 industry groups—including both commercial and nonprofit entities. In 2023, the most recent year for which data are available, arts and culture again surpassed its annual value added to the U.S. economy with $1.2 trillion, representing 4.2 percent of the nation’s GDP. Most of the arts and cultural industries have exceeded their pre-pandemic numbers for value added; however, several are at or below their 2019 levels.
Beyond its contributions to GDP, the arts sector has yielded a growing trade surplus for the U.S. In 2023, the total value of the nation’s arts exports was nearly $37 billion greater than the value of arts imports from other countries.”
. . .
“The real value added by arts and culture (i.e., in inflation-adjusted dollars) has doubled over a 25-year period. As in previous years, the arts added more to U.S. GDP than did the sectors of agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting; mining; outdoor recreation; and transportation and warehousing.”
. . .
“By 2023, most arts and cultural industries were restored to or exceeded pre-pandemic levels of economic activity, with 27 out of 35 arts industries posting amounts above 2019 levels. This includes the value added by performing arts presenters and agents and managers.
- However, the value to GDP of independent artists, writers, and performers was roughly on par with the 2019 level, though it represented a decrease from the 2022 level.
- Performing arts organizations—which took a bigger hit from the 2020 recession than did many other industries—grew 31.6 percent between 2022 and 2023 but remained 12.3 percent below the 2019 level in value added.”
