Press Release 18/12/2024

INFORMATION SOCIETY PANORAMA. 2024

In 2024, home pay-TV and cloud computing for companies were the services with the highest growth in the Basque Country

56.8% of internet users and 29.2% of establishments engaged in e-commerce in the Basque Country

In 2024, over half the population in the Basque Country (59%) had access to pay-TV and 31.7% of companies paid for Cloud Computing Services, according to Eustat data. In both cases the evolution has been remarkable; Households that benefited from pay TV 10 years earlier reached 21.9%, 37 percentage points less. In turn, in the case of companies and compared to 2019 (the first year with data available), companies using cloud computing services stood at 20.3%, with growth of more than eleven points in five years.

These figures are to a great extent explained by the fact that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment in the Basque Country has registered continuous year-on-year growth, although not all equipment has increased in the same manner and with the same intensity. An uneven distribution of ICT was 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 depended on the number of people employed.

Sphere of households and those who comprise them

Focusing the analysis on the sphere of households and those who comprise them, connectivity-related technological equipment had a place in the majority of homes in the Basque Country, revealing an upward trend. 91.2% of Basque households had an internet connection (broadband in almost all cases), a rise of 24.8 percentage points since 2014. Among those families with at least one person aged between 16 and 74, internet connection availability rose to 98.4%.

Computers were found in 77.1% of households, 8.1 percentage points higher than in 2014, while laptop computers were present in 59.9% of households, reflecting a slightly greater increase over the last 10 years (8.5 percentage points). Furthermore, almost all households (98.2%) already had a mobile telephone, i.e. 5.2 percentage points more than 10 years ago.

In terms of the population aged 15 and over residing in these households, the percentages were slightly higher: 94.7% had access to the internet at home (20.2 percentage points more than in 2014), 83.9% had a computer (up 6.7 points) and 99.1% a mobile phone (3.3 more points).

The number of internet users aged 15 and over (in the last 3 months) accounted for 89.9% of the Basque population in this age group, a percentage that increased by 22 percentage points in 10 years (67.9% in 2014).

There are numerous activities that can be carried out online. Those geared towards communication and searching for information were the most common among those undertaken for personal reasons. Practically the entire Basque internet user population communicated via WhatsApp or other instant messaging applications (97.7%) and, to a lesser extent, used email (85.2%), searched for information on goods or services (81.5%) or read news stories, newspapers or magazines (79%). Participation on social networks reached 57% among the internet user population aged 15 and over and rose to 88.3% among people aged between 15 and 24.

Likewise, activities directed towards consumption and household economy were responsible for a large number of operations carried out over the internet. 74.1% of people online used the internet for banking activities in 2024. As regards activities related to leisure and culture that take place outside the home, 53.1% of the internet user population booked accommodation or trips related to tourism, down 1 percentage point on the previous year (2023).

The electronic administration enables procedures to be carried out with the administration via telematic means. In this sphere, 58% of internet users submitted forms completed online to the administration, 54.5% gathered information and 46% downloaded official forms via this channel.

Finally, in terms of e-commerce, the percentage of users who acquired any kind of goods or services online in the last 3 months was 56.8%, equivalent to a total of 977,500 people. This figure represents 51% of the overall Basque population aged 15 and over, almost twice the number of people who made a purchase via the internet 10 years ago (1.9 times higher). This group tended mainly to purchase clothes, shoes and accessories, household goods, accommodation, tickets to cultural events, personal care and hygiene, transport and sports equipment.

Business sphere

As for companies in the Basque Country, a clear positive pace of development was noted for all technological equipment over the period 2014-2024. Levels of internet access currently stand at 96.0% and the availability of a website at 57.4% of businesses in the Basque Country, situating them in comparatively high positions within the context of EU27 countries.

There is a similarly noteworthy convergence in levels of technological equipment between large and small firms. This is due to a dual tendency: on 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 have a higher 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 2014-2024 period, the percentage of those who used a computer in their company rose from 67.6% to 77.5%, an increase of 10 percentage points. Meanwhile, internet access, which stood at 60.3% in 2014, amounted to 74.9% of employees in 2024, an increase of 14.6 percentage points.

However, unlike in equipment, there were no significant differences in the percentages of employed people using these technologies when company size was taken into account.

As for Public Administration, it should be pointed out that practically all public establishments in the Basque Country had ICT equipment in 2024: 100% had both a computer and an internet connection and 99.4% had a website.

A relevant aspect of the information society is the relationship that companies have with the Administration. This is reflected by the fact that 97.7% of Basque companies with internet access conducted electronic procedures with the Public Administration in 2024. There has been unquestionable progress in this sphere, since in 2014 the number was 67.2% of establishments, a change of more than 30 percentage points in just ten years. This difference narrows if we only consider companies with 10 employees or more, where the figure amounts to 98.6% of establishments of this size in 2024 and having risen by 6.5 percentage points from an initial figure of 92.1% in 2014.

In terms of the information society, the situation is different in the Primary Sector: according to the most recent available figures, for 2022, we find a lower degree of ICT penetration compared with other sectors, mainly because of the fragmented nature of the sector – 97.4% of establishments have 9 employees or fewer – as well as the specific features of the business itself. In this group, only establishments with fishing activity achieved significantly higher equipment percentages. However, this detail scarcely affected the total for the sector, because agricultural companies comprised 96.0% of the total for primary sector establishments.

Returning to the company sector, with regard to e-commerce, the most notable feature in the Basque Country is the uneven distribution of the system depending on whether we consider purchases or sales.

As of 31 December 2023, the proportion of establishments engaged in e-commerce was 29.2%, with 26.3% of them conducting sales, and 8.8% purchases. These proportions are higher than those seen ten years previously, in 2013, when 24.8% were involved in e-commerce, 23.1% making purchases and 6.0% sales. If we take size into account, at those with 10 or more employees, e-commerce expanded during the period 2013-2023 from 27.5% to 40.4%.

As for the evolution of economic volumes in the Basque Country over the period studied (2013-2023), the turnover of e-commerce sales rose from 8,090.8 million euros in 2013 to 21,780.3 million in 2023. In the case of sales, in 2013 this figure was 11,072.3 million euros, rising to 30,021.0 million in 2023. Therefore, although the percentage of companies purchasing online was higher than that for those making sales via this system, the economic amounts that were the object of transfer were much higher in the case of electronic sales.

Lastly, among the nine indicators analysed for what is known as Industry 4.0, referring to the digital transformation of companies, we would highlight the following:

- The use of Social Networks for business purposes, with 53.8% of establishments.

- Cloud Computing, with 31.7% of establishments paying for this service.

- Cyber-Security activities, undertaken at 25.4% of establishments.

The list continues with proportions of between 12% and 16% for Mobile Applications for Customers, Internet of Things (IoT), and Big Data Analysis. Finally, with below 8% of establishments, were Artificial Intelligence, 3D Printers and Robotics.

Note: The structure of the Information Society Overview is concentrated in 6 large blocks: ICT equipment, computer use, internet use, electronic administration (e-administration), e-commerce and digitalisation (industry 4.0). These blocks are 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.

https://es.eustat.eus/panoramadelasociedaddelainformacion/2024/inicio.html

For further information:

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