The value of the UK home entertainment market soared to £11.1bn in 2022, an all-time record for music, video and games sales, according to preliminary figures from the digital entertainment and retail association, ERA. The total was 6.9 per cent up on 2021 and 39 per cent up on the last pre-pandemic year of 2019. Streaming and digital formats accounted for the lion’s share of revenues – £10.1bn of the £11.1bn total – up 8.4 per cent on 2021.

The fastest growing sector in 2022 was video, up 14.4 per cent to £4.4bn, followed by music, up 3 per cent to £2bn and games up 2.3 per cent to £4.7bn. Games continues to represent the largest sector of sales, accounting for 42.1 per cent of the total, with video on 40 per cent and music on 17.9 per cent. In the games sector, digital sales, at £4.18bn, accounted for al most 90 per cent of the £4.7bn total.

Looking at the trend since before the start of the pandemic, video sales were up by 69.5 per cent in 2022, compared to 2019. Home entertainment sales were up by 39 per cent over the same period; games sales by 23.9 per cent; and music sales by 24.2 per cent.

“Despite pandemic, political uncertainty and recession, entertainment has continued to soar,” said  ERA Chairman, Ben Drury. “Growth of nearly 40 per cent since 2019 is extraordinary. Few would have believed we would retain the huge bounce in revenues seen when the COVID lockdown kept people at home, but these numbers show that even amid recession, people are determined to maintain their spending on entertainment. This is a huge vote of confidence in the attractiveness of our member’s (sic) offer, whether they be small independent record shops or global streaming platforms.”