Wales's economy: the contribution of mathematical sciences
Abstract
New analysis produced by the Academy for Mathematical Sciences (AcadMathSci) details the contribution of the mathematical sciences to Wales's economy in 2024. This ground-up analysis shows that the mathematical sciences form a substantial and economically vital part of the Welsh economy. In 2024, 195,000 people worked in mathematical science (MS) occupations in Wales, contributing £14 billion in direct economic value: 16% of Wales's total Gross Value Added (GVA). These are well-paid, high-productivity roles, embedded in every part of the modern Welsh economy, from data science and financial services to education and manufacturing. MS workers earned salaries 50% higher and were 30% more productivity (measured by GVA per worker) than their non-MS counterparts. Behind these numbers lies a powerful story: when we invest in mathematical sciences—in education, research, and people—we build a more innovative, resilient, and prosperous future. The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences is committed to ensuring that the mathematical sciences continue to thrive, as an engine of economic growth and also as a force for opportunity, understanding, and progress across society.
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Wales’s economy: contribution of the mathematical sciences December 2025
©Academy for the Mathematical Sciences 2025 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. cbnd A copy of the licence may be viewed at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. When using or quoting this work, credit must be attributed to the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences. In academic publications, the work may be cited as: Rajpaul, V. M. & Marr, C. (2025). Wales’s economy: the contribution of mathematical sciences. Academy for the Mathematical Sciences. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17660075. Mae’r adroddiad hwn hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17777109). Any enquiries regarding this work should be sent to [email protected]. The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences (AcadMathSci) was established in 2022 to be the single, authoritative voice for the mathematical sciences community, spanning education, academia, and business, industry, and government. It was registered as a charity in 2023 and the first cohort of Fellows will be appointed in late 2025. The Academy engages actively with policy and strategic priorities, contributing to debates on issues from curriculum reform to AI. We work to champion the role of the mathematical sciences and to influence policy. Through the Learned Societies Forum (LSF), we bring together the five learned societies in the mathematical sciences to collaborate on shared priorities and amplify our collective voice.
Wales’s economy: the contribution of mathematical sciences 195k workers in industries incl.: professional, scientific & technical (37k MS jobs); education (29k MS jobs); manufacturing (27k MS jobs) in mathematical science (MS) jobs (13% of all employment in Wales in 2024) 30% more productive 16% by MS workers to Wales’ economy in 2024: 16% of total gross value added (GVA) £14 bn gross value added 50% higher salaries © Academy for the Mathematical Sciences 2025 Growing the MS workforce by just 1% could be worth £140 mn/yr to Wales. New analysis produced by the Academy for Mathematical Sciences (AcadMathSci) details the contribution of the mathematical sciences to Wales’s economy in 2024. This ground-up analysis 1 shows that the mathematical sciences form a substantial and economically vital part of the Welsh economy. In 2024, 195 000 people worked in mathematical science (MS) occupations 2 in Wales, contributing £14 billion in direct economic value: 16% of Wales’s total Gross Value Added (GVA).3,4 These are well-paid, high-productivity roles, embedded in every part of the modern Welsh economy, from data science and financial services to education and manufacturing. MS workers earned salaries 50% higher and were 30% more productivity (measured by GVA per worker) than their non-MS counterparts. Behind these numbers lies a powerful story: when we invest in mathematical sciences—in education, research, and people—we build a more innovative, resilient, and prosperous future. The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences is committed to ensuring that the mathematical sciences continue to thrive, as an engine of economic growth and also as a force for opportunity, understanding, and progress across society. 2©Academy for the Mathematical Sciences | www.AcadMathSci.org.uk | Dec. 2025
Supplementary notes and figures 1 In 2025, AcadMathSci undertook a detailed study to catalogue the UK’s mathematical science (MS) workforce and to estimate its direct economic contributions in 2024. The results—detailed in a methodology paper (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17117973) and summarised in an infographic (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17118026)—quantified the occupation and industrial distribution, productivity, and remuneration of MS workers across the UK, as well as their total gross value added to the UK economy in 2024. The numbers in this note are derived from an analysis based on the same core methodology used in our UK-wide analysis, but with some modifications that enabled us to produce separate estimates for Wales; our full analysis is detailed in a second methodology paper (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17118017). 2 In our analysis, we defined an MS worker thus: “An MS worker is (i) one whose day-to-day duties involve the use of non-trivial mathematical science tools or knowledge (e.g., mathematical optimisation, statistical analysis, trigonometry, calculus, data analytics) and/or (ii) one specifying a formal mathematical qualification (e.g., A-level Maths) as an entry requirement.” 3 GVA correlates strongly with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) though Wales’s total GDP has in recent years been about one-tenth higher than GVA because, unlike GVA, GDP includes taxes on production including VAT. 4 Our estimate is based on GVA data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS estimated total Welsh GVA and GDP in 2023 to be £81.4 bn and £92.8 bn, respectively. We estimated total Welsh GVA in 2024 to be £84.8 bn, based on the UK’s 4.2% GVA growth from 2023 to 2024 (total Welsh GVA in 2024 was not available from the ONS at the time of writing). We have no reason to believe that the proportional contributions of the Welsh MS workforce would change if using slightly different estimates of total GVA or GDP. MS workers’ GVA contributions by industry (Wales, 2024) Human health & social work (£0.8 bn) Electricity, gas, steam, A/C supply (£0.8 bn) Education (£0.8 bn) Real estate (£1.0 bn) Public administr., defence, & social security (£1.0 bn) Professional, scientific, & technical (£1.0 bn) Finance & insurance (£2.0 bn) Manufacturing (£3.9 bn) Other industries (£2.4 bn) 3©Academy for the Mathematical Sciences | www.AcadMathSci.org.uk | Dec. 2025
Workforce sizes and GVA contributions by industry (Wales, 2024) 050k100k150k200k250k Workforce T : Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods S : Other service activities R : Arts, entertainment, and recreation Q : Human health and social work activities P : Education O : Public administration and defence; compulsory social security N : Administrative and support service activities M : Professional, scientific, and technical activities L : Real estate activities K : Financial and insurance activities J : Information and communication I : Accommodation and food service activities H : Transport and storage G : Wholesale and retail trade F : Construction E : Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities D : Electricity, gas, steam, A/C supply C : Manufacturing B : Mining and quarrying A : Agriculture, forestry and fishing Non - MS workers MS workers 0 £2 bn £4 bn £6 bn £8 bn£10 bn£12 bn GVA contribution 4©Academy for the Mathematical Sciences | www.AcadMathSci.org.uk | Dec. 2025