Sales of British TV shows overseas grew 5% to almost £1.28bn last year, with formats such as The X Factor and The Great British Bake Off and dramas including Downton Abbey and Sherlock proving global hits.
The annual TV export report, published on Monday by independent producers’ trade body Pact, reveals that for the second year running China represented the fastest growing market for British shows and formats.
The Chinese have fallen for dramas including Downton Abbey and formats such as gameshow The Cube, fuelling a 40% year-on-year rise in the amount spent on programmes to £17m. Mexico was the second fastest grower, up 23% to almost £1m.
"China has probably the fastest growing and largest untapped market for UK producers and it is certainly the most intriguing,” said Paul Sandler, the mangaging director of Objective Productions, maker of The Cube. “They still have a real hunger for western formats and techniques and that represents an enormous opportunity over the next few years.”
The survey also shows significant growth in markets including France, up 21% to £37m, the Netherlands, up 28% to £16m and Poland, up 21% to £11m.
In total Europe accounted for 27% of total sales, at £351m. Australasia remained the UK’s second biggest market at £95m, even though sales dropped 10%.
The UK television industry’s biggest customer is still by some distance the US, with sales growing more than 10% year-on-year to £523m, accounting for 47% of all TV export revenue.
Including Canada, the overall North American market is worth £598m, with £156m coming from TV show sales and £173m from new commissions for programmes.
The BBC said that globally its dramas The Musketeers and Atlantis, sold to countries from Iceland to South Korea, proved to be two of the biggest sellers in the last year.
The Great British Bake Off format has been turned into localised versions in numerous countries including France, Italy, Finland, Ukraine, Germany and across Scandanavia. Last week the final of the original UK version hit a new ratings high on BBC1, attracting an average of more than 12 million viewers.
"This survey is a timely reminder that viewers in Shanghai or Seattle are just as likely to be talking about great British shows like Sherlock and Luther as commentators here are about the latest US TV blockbuster,” said Paul Dempsey, BBC Worldwide’s president, global markets.
ITV has sold Mr Selfridge, Poirot, Marple and Lewis to more than 150 countries worldwide, and the Come Dine with Me and Hell’s Kitchen formats have been sold and made locally in dozens of markets.
"The report reflects the enormous appetite we are seeing for our UK content, from high-end and long-running drama franchises like Mr Selfridge and Lewis to multi-territory hit formats like I’m a Celebrity. .. Get Me Out Of Here!, Come Dine with Me and The Chase, said Maria Kyriacou, managing director of ITV Studios global entertainment operation. “The emergence of new markets and platforms worldwide is a fantastic opportunity.”
A new additional revenue stream that is starting to take off is the sale of digital rights for UK TV shows, which grew 72% year-on-year to £49m.