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The Chemical Industry
The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is fundamental to modern society. With an immense variety of products, from vital medicines and foods, the construction of buildings, to transport and leisure, the industry truly does have an impact on virtually every aspect of our daily lives.
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People and Skills
Chemical manufacturers and suppliers require a workforce with varying levels of STEM skills not just to cope, but to innovate. Our industry provides many of the solutions to many societal and environmental issues and our highly skilled, technically advanced workforce play a leading role in the charge for industrial decarbonisation.
The UK’s chemical assets provide direct employment for 138,000 people, mainly in the North West, North East, South Wales and Grangemouth in Scotland. On average our employees earn 21% more than other manufacturing industries and 27% more than the average worker in the economy. These are highly skilled jobs in science and engineering, and local supply chains mean that our economic contribution has a very strong regional multiplier; we support 500,000 jobs indirectly.
People form the heart of the UK chemical and pharmaceutical industry
Delivering the future
Our key issue is ‘to attract and retain the right diverse talent for our industry’. Vacancies now are 10% higher than pre-pandemic as significant numbers of people have taken the option of early retirement in our sector but across the economy too. The 153,000 direct employees plus the hundreds and thousands of contractors who support the work of chemical businesses need to be succeeded when the time comes for them to leave. Companies are making every effort to attract and retain staff through remuneration and employment policies.
Our Chemical Industry
CIA is committed to maintaining and growing a strong skills base to ensure the continued success of our industry. We work closely with government and industry on skills issues. Explore facts and figures about the UK Chemical Industry, by clicking on each region of the map
Region Information
Click on a map region to discover more.
Scotland
£3.2bn
Exports£2.7bn
GVA8,500
Employment260
Businesses
North East
£2.8bn
GVA£2.6bn
Exports9,000
Employment125
Businesses
Yorkshire and the Humber
£3.4bn
GVA£3.4bn
Exports17,000
Employment330
Businesses
East Midlands
£1.8bn
Exports£1.4bn
GVA10,500
Employment320
Businesses
East England
£8bn
Exports£3.7bn
GVA12,000
Employment375
Businesses
London
£7.2bn
Exports£0.8bn
GVA3,150
Employment610
Businesses
South East
£11.3bn
Exports£5.6bn
GVA14,500
Employment545
Businesses
South West
£1.3bn
Exports£1.5bn
GVA10,000
Employment305
Businesses
Wales
£2.5bn
Exports£1.9bn
GVA8,500
Employment195
Businesses
West Midlands
£1.4bn
Exports£0.9bn
GVA6,500
Employment345
Businesses
North West
£8.1bn
Exports£8.5bn
GVA27,000
Employment610
Businesses
Northern Ireland
£1.3bn
Exports£0.5bn
GVAN/A
Employment
Chemical and pharmaceutical exports (£bn)
Gross Value Added (£bn)*
Employment
*Data includes SIC 19 - Manufacturing of coke and petroleum
Figures correct as of Q1 2024
Source: Office for National Statistics
Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day
Launched by the Women’s Engineering Society in 2014, the International Women in Engineering Day provides a profile to female engineers around the the world, promoting the amazing work they are doing. It is an opportunity to focus on the great opportunities available to girls in the industry.
We asked some of our female engineers working for CIA member companies, why chemical engineering?
Chemistry for a Better Tomorrow
The Chemical Industries Association has partnered with ITN Productions to launch Chemistry for a Better Tomorrow, a news and current affairs-style programme reporting on the importance of the multi-billion pound chemical industry and the significant impact the sector has on our day to day lives, economic progress, UK operations and the future for the next generation.
The CIA and Cogent Skills published the output from a series of executive roundtables on the future skills requirements of the chemical sector.
Future skills and the chemical industry
This report makes an important contribution to our understanding of the sector’s current position on skills at a critical time. We look forward to working together to address the challenges outlined in this report.
Find out more
Be part of it
Members are invited to get involved with the our Education and Employment Strategy Group.
For further information, or to express an interest in joining, please contact
Simon Marsh at MarshS@cia.org.uk
What is the Education and Employment Strategy Group?
