economic impact

The contribution of the Higher Education (HE) sector to economic prosperity - through innovation, knowledge exchange, and higher level skills - is vitally important for economic development and growth. The strength of the HE sector is all the more important in an economic recession when other sectors are retracting.

Through both direct and secondary effect the higher education sector generated over £59 billion of output and over 668,500 full time equivalent jobs through the UK economy in 2007/08. The equivalent figure four years ago was £42.5 billion, confirming a rapid growth in economic impact.

Universities in the East Midlands are also large businesses and employers themselves, generating a total income of over £1.5 billion in 2008/9, and employing over 41,000 staff. According to a Universities UK report, every £1 million of university output generates an additional £1.4 billion elsewhere in the economy - the total impact of East Midlands universities for 2008/9 is therefore £3.6 billion.

The East Midlands has 10 diverse Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which between them:

• Educate a total of 164,520 students. (HESA 2008/9)
• Employ over 41,000 staff directly - equating to 21,156 full time jobs - and contribute to the employment of an additional 23,000 people in the region. (EMUA 2009) (HESA 2008/09)
• Have a total income of £1.5 billion, which generated an additional £2.1 billion in other sectors of the economy. (HESA 2008/09)
• Undertake £272.5 million of research. (HESA 2008/09)
• Contribute 4% to regional GDP (EMUA 2009)

Investing in the East Midlands: Funding Changes to universities and the economic impact on the region

An East Midlands Universities Association (EMUA) report, published on 29th March 2010 outlines the potential damage to the East Midlands economy resulting from cuts to Higher Education funding. The report, summarises the findings of a study into the effects of the recession on universities in the East Midlands and the subsequent impact on the economy of the region. To read the report in full, please click here.

If you would like to download a pdf of headlines and statistics which illustrate the economic impact that East Midlands HEIs had in 2007/08, please click the link below.

Economic Impact (pdf 428kb)