The UK arts sector is “in crisis” and receives one of the lowest levels of government spending on arts and culture in Europe, according to a report.

It highlights a “dramatic” fall in funding that has seen the UK’s total culture budget slashed by 6% – while countries including Germany, France and Finland have increased their own arts and culture spending by up to 70%.

Produced by Campaign for the Arts and the University of Warwick, the State of the Arts report will receive its official launch at the House of Lords this evening (July 22).

The team behind the report said it “unveils a crisis in the UK’s arts sector”.

One of its authors, Campaign for the Arts director Jack Gamble, added: “The arts matter to all of us, and yet the UK’s arts sector is running on empty.”