Drugs and prostitution contribute £10bn a year to GDP

The illegal drugs and prostitution industries contribute around £10bn a year to the UK economy, according to estimates released today.

In September 2014, the sale, import and production of illegal drugs and the provision of prostitution will be included in the national accounts for the first time.

An ONS release today predicts that the two industries combined contributed about £10bn to UK GDP in 2009, and that in each year between 1997 and 2009 they contributed between £7bn and £11bn.

In 2009, the most recent year for which figures are available, around £5.3bn is attributable to prostitution and £4.4bn is attributable to illegal drugs.