Economic and social value of the adult social care sector in Wales

Social care provides critical support to people of all ages in all our communities and the latest annual report by Care Inspectorate Wales’s Chief Inspector shows most of this care is rated ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

We also know how much people receiving care and support, their families and communities value this support, with 72 per cent of the Welsh public telling us in 2023 they have confidence in those who work in care.

But what isn’t so well known is the important contribution social care makes to society and the economy in Wales.

So, Skills for Care and Development commissioned Alma Economics to write a series of reports analysing the adult social care sector’s economic and social value in the UK and in each of the four nations using data from 2022 to 2023.

These reports are used to inform:

• the economic case for investment in social care and its workforce
• policy making
• national spending review decisions about investment.

The Wales report found the total direct, indirect and induced value of the adult social care sector in Wales was £4.6 billion.

The socioeconomic benefits of the adult social care sector in Wales were £22.6 billion in 2023, while the costs were £8.1 billion.

This means that for every £1 spent on adult social care in Wales, there was £2.78 worth of socioeconomic benefits.

This suggests the benefits of adult social care to society and the economy in Wales greatly outweigh the costs of providing care.

You can find out more about the report’s findings in our data summary.

Economic and social value of the adult social care sector: UK and national breakdowns

If you’d like to find out more about the economic and social value of the adult social care sector in the UK, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland in 2023, take a look at the Skills for Care and Development website.