Press Release 27/03/2020

INFORMATION SOCIETY OVERVIEW. 2020

The Basque population and Basque companies are connected: 91.0% of homes and 91.6% of establishments had Internet in 2019

50.7% of people and 24.1% of establishments made an online purchase

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment in the Basque Country shows a steady increase year after year, according to the Information Society Overview 2020 prepared by Eustat. Although not all equipment increases equally and to the same degree.

An uneven distribution of ICT is observed in the sphere of households and those who comprise them, depending on variables such as age and relationship with the activity. In the case of companies, the disparities mainly depend on the number of people employed who have ICT, on the Province where the company is located and its sector of economic activity.

Sphere of households and those who comprise them

91% of Basque household with a member aged between 16 and 74 have an internet connection, almost all being a broadband connection. In the last ten years this figure has increased by 31.4 percentage points.

Technology equipment associated with connectivity forms part of the majority of households and shows an upward trend. Computers are present in 70.9% of households, 11.6 points more than in 2009. This trend is even more evident in technology with greater portability and mobility, as in the case of laptop computers, 55.2%, which have doubled in 10 years, while a mobile phone is now found in 95.2% of Basque households (up 6.5 points in the last 10 years).

From the point of view of the population, the percentages are very similar: 87.4% have access to the Internet at home (28 percentage points more than in 2009), 78.3% have a computer (up 9.8 points) and 97.2% a mobile phone (4 more points).

Internet users’ represent 80.2% of the population aged 15 and over, which represents an increase of 28.2 points in respect of 2009. The greatest increase over the last ten years occurred in the 35-54 age range, with users up 32.5 percentage points, reaching a total of 96.6% in 2019.

On the other hand, in this period the gender gap has reduced by almost half from 8.3 points in 2009 to 4.3 points in 2019.

There are numerous activities that can be carried out online; those geared towards communication and searching for information stand out among those undertaken for personal reasons. Practically the entire Basque population that uses ICT has communicated via WhatsApp or other instant messaging applications (96.1%), has searched for information on goods or services (83.8%), used email (79.4%) or read news stories, newspapers or magazines (74.3%).

Likewise, activities directed towards consumption and household economy, are responsible for a large number of operations carried out online. 60.5% used this means of accessing banks, while in recent years there has been significant growth in activities related to leisure and culture, as indicated by the fact that, for example, 44.9% of the population who use the internet have booked accommodation or trips related to tourism.

The electronic administration enables procedures to be carried out with the administration via telematic means. In this sphere, 29.9% of the internet user population aged 15 and over have submitted forms completed online to the administration, 44.1% have gathered information and 22.9% have obtained official forms via this channel.

Finally, in terms of e-commerce, the percentage of Internet users who acquired any kind of goods or services online in the last 12 months in 2019 was 50.7%, equivalent to a total of 760,000 people. This figure accounts for 40.6% of the entire Basque population aged 15 and over. This group tends mainly to purchase sports equipment and clothes (38.1%), travel and holiday accommodation (29.4%), tickets for shows (26.4%), other travel services (25.9%), household goods (24.7%) and electronic equipment (16.8%).

Business sphere

A rhythm of positive development in the 2001-2019 period as regards businesses in the Basque Country can be clearly appreciated, with growth in all technology equipment. Levels of Internet access currently stand at 91.6% and availability of a website at 54.6% of businesses in the Basque Country, situating them in comparatively high positions within the context of EU-28 countries.

At provincial level the differences are found in personal computer, email, internet and mobile telephone, although the highest percentages correspond to Álava for the first three types of equipment and to Bizkaia in the case of the mobile telephone. Álava is also the province with most establishments that have a website (56.6%).

By activity sector, industrial companies obtain slight higher percentages for the most common equipment such as personal computer (96.0%), email (94.8%) and Internet (94.9%), although the distances between the services and construction sectors are reduced. Mobile telephone equipment is most frequent in the construction sector (98.2%), which also shows the most positive performance for the 2001-2019 period in two equipment types: email (80.4 percentage points increase) and internet connection (78.9 points more). In the rest of equipment - local or extended network, wireless networks, virtual private or value-added network, intranet, extranet, electronic transfer of funds or electronic data exchange - the dominance of the services sector is clear, particularly in the electronic transfer of funds, present in 61.2% of the services sector compared to 42.1% and 35.8% of the industry and construction sectors, respectively.

Furthermore, the fact that year after year there is a reduction in the distances for technological equipment between large and small companies is noteworthy. This is due to a dual tendency: on the one hand, large companies are reaching the maximum level of equipment in the main technologies and, on the other hand, companies with fewer employees increasingly dispose of a greater level of technological equipment.

In turn, there has also been a gradual rise in the proportion of employed people who use technological equipment. In the 2001-2019 period, the percentage of those with a computer in their company went from 46.4% to 71.2%, an increase of 24.8 percentage points. Internet access, which in 2001 stood at 23.4%, reached 66.7% of employed people in 2019 and the number of those with email went from 25.8% to 66.9% in these nineteen years, with both equipment groups registering increases of over 40 points.

Notwithstanding, in contrast to what is occurring in equipment, there is no great difference in percentages of employed people who use these technologies when company size is taken into account.

For the Public Administration, it should be pointed out that practically all public establishments of the Basque Country had ICT equipment in 2019. Thus, 99.8% had computers, email and Internet connection. As for mobile phones, despite being the least widespread item of ICT equipment, 82.3% of public establishments had them.

In contrast, the reality of the primary sector is quite different; the data reflect a lesser implementation of ICTs in comparison with the other sectors, mainly due to its automation - 97.7% of establishments employ 9 people or fewer - and the specific characteristics of the activities carried out therein. Only establishments with fishing activity achieved much higher equipment percentages. However, this detail scarcely affects the total for the sector, because agricultural companies comprise 96.3% of the total for primary sector establishments.

A relevant aspect of the information society is the relationship that companies have with the Administration. Thus, 93.0% of Basque companies carried out electronic procedures with the Public Administration in 2019. This percentage is slightly higher, 93.9%, if the business has Internet access. The progression in this sphere is undisputed, as the period between 2001 and 2019 saw a rise from 22.5% of establishments carrying out procedures via this medium to 93.9% in 2019. The percentage is even higher if only companies of 10 or more employees are taken into account, reaching 96.3% of establishments of this size in 2019, although the increase is less, as they started out from 43.9% in 2001.

In relation to e-commerce for companies in the Basque Country, the most relevant detail is the unequal distribution according to whether it involves purchases or sales via this system. Differences are also observed regarding the size of the companies and the productive sector to which they belong.

The percentage of establishments carrying out e-commerce in 2002 stood at 4.4%, with 3.6% purchasing and 1.3% selling. In 2018, the last year available, the proportion of establishments doing e-commerce was 26.3%, with 24.1% purchasing and 6.9% selling. If size is taken into account, in companies of 10 or more employees, the e-commerce in the 2002-2018 period has evolved from 10.0% to 31.6%.

Lastly, and in regards to the evolution of the economic amounts that move e-commerce in the Basque Country, in the period studied, 2002-2018, the figure for purchasing via e-commerce went from 1,509.5 million euros in 2002 to 14,065.9 million in 2018. In the case of sales, in 2002 this figure was 2,834.0 million euros, rising to 19,142.9 million in 2018. Therefore, although the percentage of companies doing electronic purchasing is higher than that for those carrying out sales via this system, the economic sums that are the object of transfer are much higher in the case of electronic sales.

Note: The structure of the Information Society Overview is concentrated in 3 large blocks. The first profiles the use of ICT equipment, the second computer use and the third largest is the different internet usages, also analysing connection types, internet presence via a website, e-administration and e-commerce. Each of these blocks is analysed from the point of view of families, the general population, companies, the administration and the rural world. In addition, there is an analysis of the differences between provinces, ages, in relation to the activity of people or size regarding the number of employees, and also placing the Basque Country in an international context.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62