The hugely anticipated UK leg of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour could generate close to a £1bn boost for the economy, it has been predicted.
The economic effect of the pop titan’s globe-trotting series of shows, dubbed “Swiftonomics”, has been widely documented, with her “Midas touch” impacting everything from hospitality to the NFL during her North American run.
In what analysts have dubbed the first billion-dollar tour, Swift sold approximately 4.3 million tickets with an average price of $238 (£190) and a further $1,300 in ancillary local spending on travel, hotels, food and shopping.
Live music business publication Pollstar reported last year that each show grossed around $17m (£13.5m), with $200m on top for merchandise.
Meanwhile, a report by the Economic Impact Research Laboratory said that Swift’s four Tokyo shows in February this year, where she played to 220,000 fans, added ¥34.1bn (£183m) to the Japanese economy.
Swifties are now preparing to flock to cities around the UK and Ireland from June, when she will perform career-spanning sets incorporating songs from albums such as Speak Now, Fearless, Folklore, and her latest record, The Tortured Poets Society.
Data released by Barclays predicts that these shows will provide a £997m uplift for the UK, with spending by Swift ticket-holders more than 12 times higher than the average cost of a UK night out (£67).
After splashing out on tickets (around £206 but exceeding £400 for those who purchased VIP ticket packages) fans are estimated to spend an average of £121 on accommodation, £111 on travel and £56 on new outfits for the event, plus £56 on a pre-concert meal and £79 on official merchandise.
Dr Peter Brooks, Chief Behavioural Scientist at Barclays, said in a statement: “Whoever came up with the phrase ‘money can’t buy happiness’ clearly wasn’t a Swiftie. There’s growing evidence that spending on experiences boosts happiness and well-being more so than purchasing physical items, especially if that experience is shared with friends and loved ones.
“When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift – like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the Fifties and Sixties – supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful.”
He added: “For non-fans, £848 may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert – but for Eras Tour ticketholders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.”
Culture secretary Lucy Frazer told The Independent: “From stadium tours to open mic nights, we know all too well that live music is an essential part of British culture. Swiftie Mania has enchanted a legion of fearless fans across the country who are in for a spectacular show with Taylor’s 15 UK dates this summer.
“They are not only set to generate nearly a billion pounds for the economy but will boost our brilliant tourism sector as we welcome gig-goers from around the world.”
Other experts have offered more moderate takes around the economic impact of Swift’s tour. Si Ying Toh, global economist at financial services group Nomura, suggested that the “total macroeconomic effect” of the Eras tour was “probably overstated”.
Regardless, local businesses are already experiencing the effects of Swiftonomics. The Black Dog in Vauxhall, south London, received a huge surge in footfall from Swifties eager to drink a pint in one of the locations named on her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
“We’ve had to turn people away as we’re at max capacity, so that shows the levels that we’re talking about,” the restaurant’s marketing director, Amy Crowley, told People last month.
“What’s been great though is that the fans have been amazing. We’ve had them shifting up to share tables with strangers to let people get in the door which is really cool.”
Management have also been capitalising on the explosion in interest by creating Swift-themed menu items, including the Swift Half, along with T-shirts and pint glasses.
Such is the economic sway of the Eras tour that it managed to spark a diplomatic row in March, after Singapore guaranteed a six-night residency at the expense of its neighbours in Thailand and the Philippines.
Swift signed an exclusivity clause negotiated by Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong that was branded “unfriendly” by critics, as it prevented her from performing anywhere else in southeast Asia.
Speaking from the Australian city of Melbourne, where he is attending an Asean leaders’ summit, Lee confirmed that Swift was provided with “certain incentives” from a government fund established to rebuild Singapore’s tourist industry after the Covid pandemic.
While he declined to say how much the deal was worth, Lee said he didn’t regard it as unfriendly towards his neighbours.
“It has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as being unfriendly,” he said. “Sometimes one country makes a deal, sometimes another country does. I don’t explicitly say ‘you will come here only on condition that you’ll not go to other places.’”
The UK leg of Swift’s Eras tour begins in the UK on 7 June at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, where she will play three consecutive nights before travelling to Liverpool, Cardiff and London.
