The accountancy profession made a combined £98 billion contribution to the UK and Irish economies in 2022, a report by Oxford Economics has revealed.
Commissioned by the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB), the report also found that the profession supported 911,800 jobs in the UK and Ireland and generated £11.4 billion in tax revenues over the year.
And the total GDP contribution of the profession on the islands grew by 22% between 2017 and 2022 when adjusted for inflation.
CCAB (an umbrella organisation for leading accountancy bodies including Chartered Accountants Ireland) said the findings highlight the key role the profession has played supporting businesses over the past five years, helping them to navigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and geopolitical crises like the war in Ukraine, as well as the transition to a green economy and new technology.
Julia Penny, chair of CCAB, said: “The significant contributions highlighted in this report underline the value of the accountancy profession to the prosperity of the UK and Ireland.
“Accountants are playing a key role in driving economic growth: helping millions of businesses to navigate global challenges and opportunities, as well as leading schemes to boost social mobility and access to the profession.”
She added: “It’s not surprising to see that contributions have grown during the past five years given the impact of the pandemic and cost of doing business crisis. Demand for our knowledge and skills remains strong, in part thanks to our expanding roles in dealing with a range of non-financial information.
“I expect accountants to retain a central role as the profession evolves to further help businesses adapt to the climate emergency and technological advances, issues on which our future economic success and stability depend.”
The report assesses both the economic and wider social impact of the profession to the UK and Ireland, with quantitative analysis supplemented by case studies which provide a snapshot of the positive contributions that accountants are making in the areas of diversity and inclusion; skills; and sustainability.
Membership of CCAB bodies has grown by 14% since 2017, and these bodies reported more than half a million students registered globally during 2022.
