Creativity outperforms economy

By IRENE CHAPPLE

New Zealand's creative industries are growing at twice the rate of the national economy, a report from the Institute of Economic Research shows.

The figures have set bureaucratic hearts fluttering as they rally support for the innovation plan, started in February.

The report, commissioned by Industry New Zealand, cost $27,000 and took the institute three months to compile.

The results show the creative sector has grown an average of 8.7 per cent annually since 1997, compared with the national growth of under 4 per cent.

The figures are nominal, exclusive of inflation, because real figures would have been too difficult to compile, said researcher Ian Duncan.

He said the same results would be reflected if calculations were done in real figures.

The report says the creative sector accounts for 3.1 per cent of New Zealand's gross domestic product, similar to Australia but a lot lower than Britain's 5 per cent.

New Zealand's creative sector employs 50,000 people.

The definition of creative industries has been narrowed down to 10 areas: advertising, software and computer services, publishing, television and radio, film and video, architecture, design, fashion, music and performing arts, and visual arts.

The latest international trade figures found by the institute were from Statistics New Zealand for 1999, when imports of the relevant industries were worth $466 million and exports, $444 million.

The institute says the figures are rough because of poor data collection in some industries.

But it said the results were indicative of what more comprehensive information would show.

Industry New Zealand's Rob Arlidge said the report showed that the industries needed to be taken more seriously.

In particular, there was huge potential in the design industry, he said.

Arlidge compared the design industry's 4 per cent contribution to the overall creative industries' income to 23 per cent in Britain.

The figures showed the "integration of commerce and design" was further advanced in Britain, and the New Zealand design sector could "clearly lift its game".

The industry was expected to have a "much greater contribution" to New Zealand's GDP in five years, Arlidge said.

Details on support from the Government still appeared couched in vague terms.

A four-hour meeting yesterday between the embryonic Design Taskforce, one of four responsible for pushing the Government's plan, and Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton was declared a success by a spokesman for his office.

The four-hour talkfest had "clarified ground rules ... and discussed the issues".

It will meet again within the next few weeks.

On Monday, big hitters in the screen industry meet to discuss ways to promote their industry. The Screen Production Industry Taskforce includes such luminaries as John Barnett of South Pacific Pictures, Touchdown Productions' Julie Christie and TVNZ head Ian Fraser.

Arlidge said the screen industry was a potential wealth creator, and the taskforce would address "key development gaps".

The report shows that film and video production earned $572 million last year, up from $217 million in 1996-1997, but it warns that the feature film production activity is "inherently volatile".

Creative industries, along with about nine other growth industries, were allocated $5.3 million through Industry New Zealand to "co-ordinate and facilitate" growth.