What can I do with an economics degree?

An economics degree can lead to a wide range of career areas. Very few economics grads will have a career as a professional economist. However, it’s still a degree that employers value.

We’ll explore some of the opportunities an economics degree can help you get, including roles in:

• Banking
• Accountancy
• Actuarial work
• Insurance
• Public sector and defence
• Consulting
• Charity
• Financial PR
• Journalism
• Digital marketing and media

There are lots of job opportunities for economics graduates including jobs in:

Banking is a broad sector covering numerous roles.

The roles are varied but you can divide the sector into:

• Retail banking (providing financial services to individuals and small businesses)
• Corporate banking (providing similar services to retail banking, but focused solely on business customers and usually serving bigger businesses)
• Investment banking (raising capital, including through stocks and bonds, and advising on other investments)

High street banks, like Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC, serve customers in every area.

Investment banks, such as Goldman Sachs and Berenberg, focus on activities like mergers and acquisitions (M&As), foreign exchange and sales and trading. Sound interesting? Discover investment banking grad jobs.

Whatever area of banking you go into, expect the work to be challenging. However, the difficulty can also make it satisfying.

Another benefit of taking your economics degree into banking is that the sector usually pays well, so you’ll be financially rewarded. However, you’ll have to be prepared to work long (and sometimes unpredictable) hours so it might be tricky to get your work-life balance right.

You don’t need a degree in accountancy to become an accountant. Economics will give you the numerical and analytical skills you’ll need for different types of accounting.

Accountants work with all types of organisations, including employers in the public and voluntary sectors.

Specialisms in accountancy include:

• Financial accounting (keeping track of a company’s financial transactions and producing external reports)
• Management accounting (keeping on top of a company’s finances and producing internal reports to inform business decisions)
• Audit accounting (reviewing clients’ operations and financial records to verify their accounts)
• Tax accounting (dealing with tax liabilities)
• Forensic accounting (detecting fraud)

Although you don’t need a specific degree to become an accountant, you’ll need accounting qualifications to become a chartered accountant (a member of a professional accounting body). That’s how you get letters after your name!

Generally, it takes three years of study, exams and relevant employment to qualify as an accountant. However, various professional bodies regulate the training of accountants in the UK, so it’ll vary from body to body.

You can gain industry experience while you’re still at university. Big accountancy firms tend to offer accounting internships – some of which you’ll be able to do during a summer break.

Interested in seeing what’s out there? Browse our grad roles in accounting, audit and tax. If you apply for a job, check out how to answer common accountancy interview questions and get interview-ready.

Actuaries apply mathematical and statistical techniques to solve business problems. So, if you’re a keen problem-solver who relishes a challenge, an actuarial role could be right for you.

Actuaries work out the degree of risk on life assurance policies, pensions, employee benefits and investments.

You’ll find opportunities to work as an actuary with leading graduate employers such as KPMG and Deloitte. However, a lot of actuarial work takes place with smaller, independent firms so you’ll need to search beyond the big names.

Your economics degree will equip you with the mathematical skills you’ll need to thrive in an actuarial role. Alongside maths know-how, you’ll also need excellent communication skills to work with colleagues and clients.

The insurance industry offers a wide range of jobs in different areas, including:

• Sales (selling insurance policies)
• Underwriting (assessing risks, calculating the costs of premiums and wording policies)
• Risk management (identifying risks to minimise the insurer’s financial losses)
• Investment management (managing the assets the insurance company holds)
• Insurance brokerage (negotiating with external insurance companies to get the best policies for clients)

If you're interested in the sector, there are some big-name firms in insurance and risk management that should be on your radar.

Ready to browse roles? Discover grad jobs in insurance (and pensions).

Public sector and defence careers involve working for the government.

Defence jobs in the public sector are specifically related to military branches (eg. the British Army) and organisations that protect national security, such as the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The wider public sector covers other government-operated or -owned sectors like policing, healthcare, education and social care. It also includes all roles in the civil service (which are hugely varied). The most popular entry route is through the Civil Service Fast Stream.

With your degree in economics, you’d be well suited for roles with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Not for you? Don’t worry. There are lots of public sector areas that will value your skills.

Careers in the public sector tend to offer stability and good progression opportunities. If you want to provide a service for the public interest, it’s an excellent route to consider.

Discover graduate jobs in the public sector.

Consulting is the service provided to businesses to help them identify and investigate problems concerned with their policies, organisation, procedures and methods.

As a consultant, you’ll recommend solutions and support organisations in implementing your suggested improvements. You may advise on a firm’s organisational structure, use of technology or how it adjusts to change. Analytical skills are key.

As an economics grad, you get the chance to apply your understanding of concepts and policy to real-life business situations.

Ready for the challenge? Explore consulting graduate jobs and schemes.

Grad roles in the charity sector are diverse – covering fundraising, PR, events and more.

To gain experience in the charity sector, you’ll need to be prepared to take on voluntary (ie. unpaid) work. However, there are paid roles in the sector.

Fundraising is an essential part of the charity sector with exciting career opportunities. It requires analytical people who thrive in target-driven environments.

The charity sector is a great area to explore if you want to use your skills to benefit society. Here are our top tips for building experience and securing a graduate job in the charity sector. Think you’ve got what it takes? Browse available roles in charity and social enterprise.

Public relations (PR) is a popular career route for graduates. Financial PR is a specialist route that you’d be well suited to with an economics degree.

PR is how organisations tell a story to the public. It’s how they promote products, services, news items and even views. It's a tenacious industry, so you’ve got to be persistent, passionate and well-informed.

As financial PR is a specialised area, you’ll need to deal with the financial media and community (such as investment bank analysts).

Journalism is a career path for those passionate about reading and writing. It doesn’t mean that you need a degree in English to succeed. An economics degree will give you an understanding of industry and commerce that will be super useful in journalism.

You’ll use your knowledge to interpret stories and put together well-informed news articles. You could work broadly or specialise as a financial news writer. It’s up to you.

Potential employers include broadcasters (ie. TV and radio), newspapers and news agencies.

If it sounds like a career you’re interested in, here's what you can do to secure a journalism grad job.

To find current opportunities, browse our listings for journalism and publishing vacancies.

Digital marketing and media roles include working on channels such as:

• Email
• Websites, including search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Social media
• Texts
• Apps
• Online advertising

It’s a digital marketer’s job to promote products, services and events to their target audiences. While promotion is the general aim of digital marketing, there are lots of roles in the sector – each with its own set of responsibilities. Some examples of digital marketing jobs are:

• Project managers
• Account managers
• SEO specialists
• Social media managers
• Performance marketing executives
• Copywriters
• Brand managers
• Content and communications managers
• Graphic designers

While you’ll need specific creative skills for some roles (ie. digital drawing and editing to be a graphic designer), the analytical skills you’ve gained from your degree will suit lots of positions in the sector. Having an awareness of current affairs and trends will also help you succeed.

Want to know more? Here's what you need to know about a career in digital and media marketing. To see what roles companies are hiring for, look at our job listings for marketing, media and PR.

Our list contains just a few suggestions of the sectors you could work in with an economics degree. There are many more roles out there. Your economic degree unlocks lots of opportunities.

To figure out which route you’d like to go down, think about your interests and any work experience you’ve enjoyed. Now, take a moment to see if they could relate to a graduate job that excites you.

Whatever you do, we’re sure you’ll smash it. Good luck!