Tech Nation’s 2021 report shows a resilient UK tech sector despite Brexit and the pandemic

18 Mar 2021 10:58 AM

The annual Tech Nation Report, which looks at the state of play for the UK’s tech sector in 2020, showed another year of strong growth, even in challenging times.

Despite a difficult backdrop with the end of the Brexit transition period, social distancing, and multiple lockdowns brought on by the pandemic, the tech sector has proven resilient by managing to grow despite the unprecedented circumstances.  

The UK tech sector raised the third highest amount of venture capital (VC) investment in the world (behind only the United States and China), investment in deep technologies, such as AI, blockchain, and Quantum computing have risen, and the UK’s relative attractiveness for investment improved.  

Emerging tech trends included an increase in the prominence of edtech, CreatTech, healthtech, and climate and agricultural tech. Future areas of tech sector growth included Mobility Tech, TravelTech, FoodTech, InsurTech, and a continued prioritisation of investment in tech innovation. 

Over the course of 2020, the number of unique tech jobs advertised in the UK outweighed that of key European countries by 259% on average. 

The report also found that the pandemic has changes the public’s relationship with technology. 66% of people reported having changed how they use tech, with the biggest increases coming in greater tech use for communication to help combat loneliness, to socialise, to help with working from home or for remote learning, and entertainment. 

Some key stats and highlights from the report include: 

Overall, the report shows that despite a hugely challenging year, technology and the UK tech sector has played a major role in helping the UK to adapt to the impacts of the pandemic while also helping to support economic growth and employment. As we turn to the recovery, ensuring we continue to get the right legislative and regulatory framework to support the continued growth of the UK tech sector will be vital not only for our economy, but also to build a more resilient, productive, and green economy. 

Read the full report online here