Culture contributes £3.5bn annually to the Sussex economy, including more than £650m of benefit to hospitality and retail — creating jobs and helping sustain high streets and local communities across Sussex.

Larger than Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leeds, Sussex’s creative clusters form the fifth-biggest creative economy outside London and the Heathrow corridor, supporting over 30,000 jobs.

Culture creates £200m a year of health and wellbeing benefits for the residents of Sussex and forms an essential component in our health infrastructure through pioneering work spanning dementia, social care and supporting young people with complex needs.

Sussex has the creative energy to power a new wave of economic growth. Creative Industries in the UK are growing 2.5 times faster than the economy as a whole and the region has 50% more creative businesses than the national average, accounting for 8% of all businesses across Sussex and rising to 13% in Brighton and Hove.

Culture, art and heritage motivates up to 64% of international tourists to the UK which in the Sussex context could provide £1.6 billion of the regional visitor economy growth target for the next decade.

National research shows that 49% of people say attending cultural events helps them feel a stronger part of their community. Sussex has a particularly rich cultural landscape with 1,100 museums, libraries, theatres and grassroots festivals strengthening civic participation and belonging. With nearly three in four Sussex primary schools within walking distance of a cultural asset, and 5.9 cultural assets per 10,000 residents, culture is within every Sussex postcode.

Find out more on the Culture Sussex website.