£14.7bn UK Cybersecurity Growth Shows Demand Is Outrunning Defence
The UK government’s latest cyber sectoral analysis highlights the need for qualified cybersecurity professionals. For UK career-changers, Learning People’s cybersecurity courses teach practical skills for entry into cybersecurity, as demand grows and many firms lack cyber expertise.
New figures from the UK Government’s Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis 2026 show the UK cybersecurity sector generated £14.7 billion in revenue, up 11% year on year. That growth lands alongside a sharper warning: UK organisations are still fighting common attacks at scale, from phishing emails to weak incident response.
Written by
With four years at Learning People and a solid foundation in IT and Cybersecurity, Chris guides people through the fast-evolving tech landscape and into their dream jobs. He combines hands-on technical expertise with insider industry insights to help learners make informed career decisions.
The UK Cybersecurity Market Is Growing With Force
The sector now includes 2,603 cybersecurity firms across the UK, up from 2,165 the year before. That includes 438 new firms in a single year, a 20% rise that points to a market expanding beyond the big-name security vendors.
Jobs are growing too. The sector employs 69,600 people on a full-time equivalent basis, up 3% year on year, with around 2,300 roles added. Productivity is also climbing, with gross value added per employee rising from £116,200 to £131,200.
All of this combined demonstrates how cybersecurity has moved from what was previously a specialist subject to a business-critical infrastructure.
Attacks Are Still Hitting Ordinary Organisations
The growth story has a harder edge. The Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026 found that 43% of UK businesses and 28% of charities reported a cybersecurity breach or attack in the last 12 months. That equals around 612,000 businesses and 57,000 charities.
Phishing remains the main pressure point. It affected 38% of businesses and 25% of charities, and among organisations that experienced any breach or attack, 88% of businesses and 87% of charities faced phishing.
The message is clear: cyber risk is not limited to banks, defence contractors or global technology firms. It sits inside inboxes, finance teams, customer databases, supply chains and charity operations across the UK.
Resilience Is Lagging Behind The Threat
Cybercrime affected 19% of businesses and 14% of charities, equal to around 267,000 businesses and 28,000 charities. UK businesses experienced an estimated 5.19 million cyber crimes of all types across the last 12 months.
Yet many organisations still lack the basics. Only 25% of businesses and 19% of charities had a formal incident response plan. Just 19% of businesses and 17% of charities ran cybersecurity training or awareness sessions in the past year.
What this gap tells us is that while technology can block threats, we still need people to spot risks, follow processes, escalate incidents and recover quickly. Cybersecurity is as much about discipline and communication as it is about technical tools.
Career-Changers Should Read The Cyber Skills Signal
For someone considering a move into cybersecurity, this data cuts through the noise. The UK does not only need lifelong coders or maths specialists. It needs people who can understand risk, support users, improve processes, document incidents and explain technical problems clearly.
If you already bring experience from operations, customer service, compliance, finance, administration or project work, that experience can count. Cybersecurity rewards structured thinking, calm decision-making and attention to detail. Technical skills matter, but they can be built.
Learning People’s cybersecurity courses can help you build recognised skills in IT, networking, security fundamentals and cyber practice. If you need a foundation first, our IT courses can give you the technical base before you specialise. Take the first step by booking a free career consultation today.
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