The value of legal services in the UK has increased by 50% in the last decade, according to newly published research.

The Law Society’s economic value report found the gross value added from the UK legal sector was £34.2bn in 2022, compared to £22.8bn in 2013. The legal sector’s turnover was £44bn, a 45% increase.

In 2023, the UK exported £9.5bn worth of legal services and in 2022, an estimated 68,000 solicitors spent 1.5 million hours working on pro bono legal services.

The report ‘moderately projects’ turnover in 2031 to be around £59bn. It also found that nearly half of UK turnover is derived from London, with the majority (53%) coming from outside England’s capital.

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Law Society president Richard Atkinson said: ‘Without question, the legal sector is a key contributor to the UK’s economy and is consistently growing.

‘Our sector is responsible for employing more than half a million people either directly or indirectly and is a major UK export. Exports are critical for maintaining and improving our standards of living, as is the fact that legal services are instrumental for the continued success of other sectors of the UK economy.’