Researchers from the University of Warwick and the charity Campaign for the Arts have examined UK public spending on arts and culture since 2010. And it turns out that this has only decreased over the years. The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport has reduced its funding for cultural institutions by 18% since 2010, so that they now represent just 0.17% of total public spending per capita.

In general, the UK has allocated fewer and fewer resources to culture over the years, as have many other European countries. But the UK has cut spending in this sector more drastically than many others. In 2022, the UK devoted just 0.46% of its GDP to the cultural sector, compared to an average of 0.74% across Europe.