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11 hours ago 3 min read
The UK semiconductor sector has expanded by 13.6% over the past two years, adding 82 companies and pushing the total number of semiconductor businesses to 705, driving specialty gas demand to support production of advanced chips.
That’s according to the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT’s) 2026 Semiconductor Sector Study, which said that, out of the 295 companies, 705 are entirely dedicated to the semiconductor market.
Highlighting growth in the UK semiconductor market, the report also found that the UK’s 295 dedicated semiconductor companies generated £10.3bn ($13.6bn) in revenue during 2024/25, up 7% from £9.6bn ($12.7bn) in 2022/23.
These businesses also spent an average of £2.9bn ($3.84bn) annually on semiconductor imports since 2017.
New international trading locations were found for 267 dedicated companies, highlighting the UK’s growing participation in the global semiconductor industry, valued at around £584bn ($796bn) in 2025.
The findings come as the UK government advances its AI Hardware Plan and seeks to strengthen international technology partnerships.
Following publication of the report, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to deepen UK-Japan technology cooperation.
As part of this initiative, Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rapidus signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UK Semiconductor Centre (UKSC) to support Japan-UK semiconductor industry relations.
The UKSC supports the domestic semiconductor ecosystem and promotes the UK’s integration with the global semiconductor supply chain through international partnerships focusing on AI and hardware development.
Andy McLean, CEO at the UKSC, said the agreement would help establish the international relationships that will be increasingly important to the future success of the UK’s semiconductor sector.
Rapidus, recently backed by 150bn yen ($943m) from the Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA) in Japan, is currently completing pilot production and targeting domestic mass-production of 2nm logic semiconductors in 2027.
Atsuyoshi Koike, CEO of Rapidus Corporation, said, “The UK has put their trust in Japan and Rapidus and we look forward to working with them to establish their next era of semiconductor development.”
The agreement follows a similar MoU signed between Rapidus and Italian semiconductor design foundation Fondazione Chips-IT as part of wider efforts to strengthen semiconductor cooperation between Japan and European technology partners.
Carlo Reita, CEO at Fondazione Chips-IT, said the organisation will develop semiconductor circuits using Rapidus’ technology to support the Italian semiconductor industry.
The UK’s 2026 Semiconductor Sector Study highlights HMRC trade data showing that since 2017 UK companies have spent an average of £2.9bn ($3.84bn) on imports of semiconductor goods each year.
This data indicates that international cooperation, like Rapidus’ agreements with the UK and Italy, ultimately serve respective domestic markets.
