UK Cybersecurity Sector 2026: £14.7 Billion Revenue, 2,603 Firms and Nearly 70,000 Jobs

The UK's cybersecurity industry continued to expand in the latest official sectoral analysis, but the pattern of growth is changing. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology estimates that 2,603 firms were active in the market, 438 more than in the previous study, while annual sector revenue reached about £14.7 billion.

That 11% revenue increase outpaced the 3% rise in sector employment, taking estimated gross value added to roughly £9.1 billion. GVA per employee rose to about £131,200. The numbers point to a sector that is still growing, but is extracting more value from each worker rather than simply expanding headcount at the pace seen earlier in the decade.

The services market is still bigger, but products are gaining weight

The government's 2026 analysis separates service providers, including managed security service providers, from product companies. Services generated roughly £8.4 billion of revenue, while product companies generated about £6.4 billion. That split matters because the economics are different: service businesses are more labour intensive, while product companies can scale software and intellectual property across larger customer bases.

Employment growth also tilted toward products. The report estimated around 27,164 FTEs in product businesses, about 39% of sector employment, while service and MSSP employment was broadly stable at around 42,400. That makes product-led expansion one of the more important structural signals beneath the headline growth rate.

Large firms dominate revenue, but the smaller-company base is deepening

Large firms account for around 70% of UK cyber-security revenue, yet the sector is not simply a handful of enterprise providers. The 2026 analysis identified 241 firms with more than £10 million in annual cyber revenue, up sharply from 105 two years earlier.

That broadening matters for the UK's technology economy. A thicker middle layer of commercially established firms gives customers more specialist suppliers, creates potential acquirers and acquisition targets, and helps technical employees move between companies without leaving the sector.

Investment is healthy but not accelerating with revenue

Dedicated UK cybersecurity firms raised about £184 million across 47 deals in 2025, according to the sectoral analysis. That was below the £206 million raised across 59 deals in 2024, even as industry revenue and GVA continued to climb.

The divergence is worth watching. It suggests that the health of the sector cannot be judged by venture funding alone. Established firms can grow through customer revenue, retained cash and acquisitions even when startup investment is softer.

How to use the numbers

The official study combines dedicated cyber companies with diversified firms whose cyber activity is only one part of a wider business, so the totals are best read as sector estimates rather than audited consolidated accounts for a fixed list of companies.

British Business Review will use this page as the quantitative anchor for its wider UK cybersecurity research. The leading-companies guide maps who operates in the sector, while the funding, employment and regional pieces below explain where growth is coming from and how concentrated it remains.