Cultural and creative industries in and around Munich have turned out to be unexpectedly strong. Recent comparison with Europe's leading creative spots (Barcelona, Amsterdam, etc.) put the Munich Metropolitan Region on top a new report, presented on Thursday (January 28) shows. The industries include fashion, gaming software, media, film, advertising, publishing, design, architecture, music, performing arts and more.

EMM e.V., an organization that oversees the Munich Metropolitan Region, announced the findings of the second data report on the cultural and creative industries in the Munich Metropolitan Region. The findings show in comparison with other creative hotspots in the EU, significant growth in these industries has propelled the Munich Metropolitan Region into first place.

Nationwide comparison confirms the region's importance and its disproportionately large share of the market: 12 per cent of all self-employed persons and companies, 16 per cent of total revenues and 12 per cent of all gainfully employed persons in the whole of Germany's cultural and creative industries. On top of these stunning figures, new thematic focal areas of the study highlight the tremendous development potential inherent in these industries.

The report bears impressive testimony to continued growth in the importance of the cultural and creative industries in the Munich Metropolitan Region. The same is true at the national and European levels. The report also presents up-to-date and more clearly structured and categorized data to make potential visible and recommendations for action tangible.

This extended data framework facilitates a new perspective on the topic. For example, it is for the first time possible to draw conclusions about the “small end” of the cultural and creative industries (comprising self-employed persons and companies with annual turnover of less than EUR 17,500, as well as people in marginal employment).

In addition to updated findings for the Media category, the report also provides initial figures about the situation of women and the importance of skilled crafts in the Munich Metropolitan Region's cultural and creative industries. The complete report is available here (German only).