Commonwealth Games struck gold for country
Record ticket sales, £1.2bn for economy, jobs up, trade up...
THE Commonwealth Games in Birmingham two years ago contributed £1.2 billion to the UK economy, with nearly half of that in the West Midlands alone, according to a newly published report.
The 2022 Games also contributed £79.5 million in social value, including community benefits and increases in wellbeing and earnings of volunteers and those trained as part of the event.
In addition, the research suggests the equivalent of 22,380 full-time years of employment were created.
Around 6,600 athletes and officials from across 72 Commonwealth nations and territories came to Birmingham and the wider West Midlands in July and August 2022 for the sporting extravaganza.
Birmingham welcomed a six per cent rise in visitor numbers during the games compared with pre-pandemic levels and enjoyed global TV views of 834.9 million, over 215 million digital views and 141 million interactions on social media.
The West Midlands also saw a 27 per cent increase in foreign direct investment projects between 2021/22 and 2022/23, almost seven times higher than the rest of the UK at four per cent.
The report also finds the games could lead to more than £150 million of further social value in the longer term, largely as a result of increased future earnings among those trained as part of the event.
The spectacle marked the biggest
multi-sport festival to be held in England since the London 2012 Olympics and broke the ticket sales record for a Commonwealth Games. Surplus funding worth £70 million is being reinvested back into the West Midlands as part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy Enhancement Fund to support business growth, sport participation programmes and youth projects.
Sports Minister Stuart Andrew said: “With over 1.5 million tickets
sold, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games was a recordbreaking event that is still having a positive impact on the region two years on.
“This report shows that hosting major sporting events in this country boosts growth, creates jobs and has a lasting social impact for communities. And some of the world’s best athletes will once again descend on Birmingham for the European Athletics Championships in 2026.”
Commonwealth Games Federation president Chris Jenkins added: “Birmingham 2022 was a spectacular, record-breaking games that created iconic moments on and off the field, uniting the Commonwealth through sport.
“The first major multi-sport event in history to award more medals to women than men, with the largest ever fully integrated programme of para sport, it captivated more than 1.5 million attending fans and had a global TV audience of 834.9 million views.
“The report outlines the positive impact and lasting legacy of the games, which contributed £1.2 billion to the UK economy and £79.5 million in social value.
“It drove trade and inward investment, created jobs and boosted tourism, with visitor numbers to Birmingham and the West Midlands in 2022 the highest on record.
“From increased civic pride and social cohesion, to promoting community sport participation, the games were truly transformational.”
The games was supported by the Business and Tourism Programme, which was the first economic legacy programme to be aligned to a Commonwealth Games and aimed to capitalise on the wider positive impact by boosting trade, investment and tourism.
Neil Rami, chief executive at the West Midlands Growth Company, said: “These figures are an emphatic endorsement of the West Midlands’ world-class event-hosting capability.
“They reinforce the powerful role of sporting events in enhancing profile, uplifting economies and capturing hearts and minds.”