Last year saw the highest annual spend on movie production in the UK since records began, according to just-released annual stats from the BFI.
According to the BFI, feature film production contributed £2.8B ($3.8B) in 2025, which was up 31% and is the highest annual spend on record.
However, as has been the direction in recent years, only 7% of that spend was on domestic production such as Georgia Oakley’s Sense and Sensibility. The majority of the rest of the enormous figure went on big Hollywood movies filming in the UK like Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, The Beatles – A Four Film Cinematic Event and Supergirl. Co-production spend was also down 14%, continuing a downward trend that first struck in 2024.
Although it did rise slightly by 4%, domestic spend making up such a small portion will be a bit of a concern to the industry, given that a gamechanging 40% indie movie tax credit came into being in 2024.
There were 193 films that went into production in the UK in 2025, a tiny increase of two from the prior year. Cinema admisssions were down a worrying 30% to below pre-Covid levels.
Movies made up just over 40% of the overall spend on both film and high-end TV in the UK last year. That combined figure of £6.8B is the third-highest figure of all time. TV spend rose by 17% to £4B, with big shows rolling cameras including Harry Potter, Slow Horses and Outlander: Blood of My Blood. Domestic TV productions that started filming in 2025 included Blue Lights Season 3, Channel 4’s A Woman of Substance remake and Matt Charman’s Prisoner for Sky.
BFI boss Ben Roberts said: “These figures demonstrate the UK’s film and TV industries continue to drive a huge amount of investment into the UK economy and create jobs. We attract some of the most ambitious projects and leading international names to make work in the UK, while our creativity remains one of our greatest exports. Productions led by UK talent in front or behind the camera, and those which showcase our renowned and technically skilled crews, consistently attract audiences at home and across the globe.”
Culture minister Ian Murray added: “From Wicked and Hamnet to Bridgerton and Slow Horses – some of this year’s most successful films and high-end television were made in the UK. The creative brilliance of our independent film sector shone with films like Pillion and The Ballad of Wallis Island, and the tax measures we have introduced will only strengthen this part of the industry further in the years to come.”
Murray’s focus on tax measures in his quote may dampen expectations that the Labour government is about to improve the high-end TV tax credit, which industry doyens have been calling for for some time now. The rebate, which pays out around 25% on shows above £1M per hour, has been in place for more than a decade now and is broadly seen as having been a big success.