Chemical science contributed £1.9 billion to the Welsh economy in 2023, with new analysis showing its central role in driving growth, jobs and innovation across towns, cities and regions throughout Wales and the UK.
But a report is warning that pressures on higher education and skills pipelines risk access to the talent needed to deliver growth, as universities play a critical role in supplying talent, supporting businesses and contributing to regional innovation ecosystems.
The Royal Society of Chemistry’s The Contribution of Chemistry report highlights how chemistry is embedded in local economies, supporting priority growth sectors and high-value employment across the UK.
Chemistry contributes £99,500 in Gross Value Added per worker in Wales compared to £73,300 per worker for the wider UK workforce. This is amongst the highest in the UK.
Across the UK, nearly half (46%) of chemistry-using professionals work in UK Government priority sectors, significantly higher than the wider workforce (26%), reinforcing chemistry’s importance to regional growth strategies.
Helen Pain, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said:
“With chemistry injecting nearly £2 billion in GVA contribution to the Welsh economy, our report underlines the enormous significance of our sector to both Wales and the UK.
“As more and more universities across the country face funding cuts, it’s more important than ever that both the Welsh and the UK governments recognise how central chemistry is to the economy within wider innovation and skills strategies and ensure opportunities to study chemistry do not fall away.”
The report also highlights that 83% of chemistry graduates enter high-skilled roles, well above the average across all subjects. These graduates are critical to local labour markets, helping businesses to grow, innovate and compete.
Maintaining this pipeline depends on strong local education and training pathways, from schools and colleges through to universities and technical provision, linked closely with employers and regional economic priorities.
The RSC is calling on:
- Local, devolved and UK governments to recognise and embed chemistry as a core enabling capability in local and national economic, science and technology, industrial, innovation and skills strategies and narratives.
- UK Government, funders and regulators to ensure that higher education and research funding reform recognises the strategic and economic value of chemistry. This includes the need for infrastructure, people, equipment and consumables to deliver high-quality chemistry teaching and research, for example through Strategic Priorities Grant reform and research funding reform.
- Local, devolved and UK governments to improve visibility and coordination across interconnected sectors that rely on chemistry, recognising that disruption to chemistry inputs, skills or research can have cascading impacts across value chains, productivity and economic resilience.
- Devolved and UK governments, funders and universities to strengthen pathways from chemistry research to innovation, translation, scale-up and commercialisation, including specialist infrastructure such as laboratories and pilot plant facilities, to improve local and national value capture from UK-developed innovations.
- Chemistry-using businesses and industry leaders to clearly communicate their skills, infrastructure and market needs, helping align chemistry capability with industrial challenges, market opportunities and growth priorities.
While overall chemical sciences GVA in the UK grew by 18% between 2019 and 2023, the report highlights barriers that particularly affect regional growth, including limited access to suitable lab space and scale-up support for businesses.
Helen added:
“Chemistry is critical to many local growth ambitions, straddling sectors ranging from clean energy and advanced materials to healthcare and manufacturing. A sustainable chemicals and materials sector is vital for national resilience and local growth, providing both the everyday products we need and vital supply chains for many more economic sectors.”
Fiona Tuck, Director at Metro Dynamics, who led the research for the project commissioned by the RSC, said:
“Now more than ever, leaders need to understand what really underpins growth in places. Too often, the capabilities that matter most are not the easiest to count. Chemistry shows why this matters: it is woven through our research base, industrial supply chains and priority sectors, but its contribution can be hidden when we look only through traditional sector lenses, or at technology alone.
“This report provides timely evidence to help national and local leaders move from ambition to action, to capturing more value from UK research, strengthening production, and supporting more resilient local economies.”
Dr Alexander Reip is Chair of Enterprise Oxfordshire, as well as being a trustee of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of the steering group working with Metro Dynamics. He said:
“Chemistry's contribution to the UK economy is substantial, and this report finally puts hard numbers to what many in the sector have long understood. Chemistry-intensive activity runs through the industrial base of communities across the UK, underpinning jobs, supply chains and innovation capacity in ways that rarely get the visibility they deserve.
“The recent speech by Andy Burnham is a reminder that inclusive growth ambitions live or die on the strength of local skills and innovation ecosystems. Chemistry sits at the heart of the UK's industrial strategy priority sectors – but its reach extends well beyond those eight. Chemistry threads through life sciences, defence, food and drink, construction, agriculture and consumer goods, often invisibly, meaning that disruption to chemistry capability has cascading consequences across the wider economy.
“If local and devolved governments are serious about harnessing those opportunities, they need to treat chemistry capability as infrastructure, not an afterthought. That means investing in the education pathways, lab facilities and translation support that allow innovation to move from research into commercial activity in the places where it is needed most. Critically, that also means backing chemistry-based businesses at the scale-up stage, where the gap between promising innovation and commercial success is too often where growth stalls. Supporting more chemistry businesses to scale is not just good for the sector; it is one of the most direct levers available to grow the wider economy and create high-value jobs in every nation and region of the UK.
“With the right local partnerships and support, UK nations and regions can tap into their chemistry strengths, building on the opportunities chemistry creates. This means backing the institutions, infrastructure and skills systems that allow innovation to flourish locally.”
