The PR industry has grown since 2013 to be worth an estimated £12.9bn, the latest PR Census 2016 has revealed.

With an employment rate of 64%, women continue to make up the bulk of the PR workforce.

The survey, conducted by the PRCA, in conjunction with PRWeek and global research house YouGov, indicates a growth of 34%. This is a hugely significant increase from the £9.62bn the industry was worth during its last measurement, in 2013.

Increased investments in communications, high scores for employee satisfaction, and a heightened reputation due to the positive work done by PR is cited as instrumental to this growth.

Since 2013, the amount of people employed in the PR industry has also grown, from 62,000 to 83,000. This is an encouraging statistic for a sector historically less visible than other, more vocational or specific skill-based courses.

Increased choices in PR courses and higher education all contribute to this increased recognition. This is as well as the desire of PR professionals to expand skillsets beyond traditional industries such as journalism and publishing.

If the upward trend in popularity continues, the lack of diversity in PR, an issue which has experienced no significant changes since the last survey, may begin to be addressed. Currently, 91% of employees are white, and 89% identify as British.

Francis Ingham, director general at the PRCA, says, “Three things stand out for me from the PR Census 2016. “The first is growth. Our industry is surging ahead, becoming bigger and bigger. And that growth is seen in pretty much every sector. The industry, it seems to me, has settled down to a balance between what we used to think of as its new and its traditional forms.”

He continues, “The second is difference. Differences in gender balance; in pay; in expertise and duties. The industry is composed of plenty of unique hubs of PR excellence all around the country, all powering forward in slightly different manners.”

“And the third is challenge. The gender pay gap is still obvious, and still troubling. We still recruit from too narrow a circle, denying ourselves access to some outstanding talent. And far too many of our industry still – remarkably – turn to AVEs when measuring their impact.

Ingham says, “We intend using every bit of influence we have to address every one of those challenges.”

Figures highlighted by the survey, particularly high numbers of female and female leadership, shows PR innovating on matters where other industries perhaps lag.

Initiatives such as flexitime have allowed work and family life to take a more reasonable balance, with 34% of individuals in the PR sector working, despite having a dependable.  

The continual rising popularity of PR retains it as a popular, lucrative and rewarding sector in which to work. Some areas, however, and particularly diversity, access and equal pay, still require improvement.