Facebook contribute £2.2bn, along with over 35,000 jobs to the UK economy

It’s no secret that the Euro zone’s economy isn’t on the whole, riding high right now. Not only that, the UK managed to hit the £1 trillion debt mark, just the other day.

So with the shadow of a double-dip recession looming back into view, who are the UK turning to in order to stimulate their economy? Facebook, apparently.

OK, so in truth Facebook is only a piece of the solution to UK’s economic puzzle, nevertheless, their most recent figures show that they make a sizable and welcome contribution to supporting it.

Facebook commissioned Deloitte to carry out this study and the results showed just how much of a direct impact they are having on the UK’s financials. Via direct aspects such as the wages they pay, profits and taxes and the secondary aspects such as their app development ecosystem, Facebook provide the UK economy with around £2.2 billion a year and have generated some 35,200 new jobs too.

Facebook app development is responsible for around £500 million and supports 7,500 jobs, whilst an increase in technology due to broadband sales accounts for a further £550 million and another 8,800 UK jobs.

The remaining £1.14 billion is tied into elements such as Facebook pages which smaller businesses use to access untapped markets. This segment makes up for roughly 18,400 jobs too.

Speaking yesterday at the DLD conference, where these figures were initially released, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer said

“Today’s report shows that Facebook is about a lot more than sharing pictures or keeping up with friends. Increasingly, social media means growth and jobs. Social media is proving particularly valuable for small- and medium-sized businesses, which form the backbone of the European economy.”

Sandberg also revealed that Facebook are planning to offer some £4.2m worth of “ad credits”, which will pay for ad space on the site for the likes of small businesses; this in turn is expected to help 50,000 companies throughout the European union.

So if you do live within the UK, next time you think envious thoughts about Mark Zuckerberg, begrudgingly, you might have to thank him a little too or at least the business minds behind his company.

Thanks to Joe for this one.

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