Press Release 23/09/2013
The ITC sector accounted for 3.2% of GDP in the Basque Country in 2011
The turnover figure was up by 2% despite the fall in the number of companies (-1.7) and of those in employment (-2.9%)
The Information & Communication Technology sector (ICT), with 2,055 companies and 22,087 employed individuals, generated 3.2% of GDP in the Basque Country in 2011, according to data provided by Eustat. Compared to the previous year, the number of companies was down by 1.7% and the number of those in work was down by 2.9%, with GDP contribution remaining stable.
This sector posted a turnover figure of 4,083.6 million euros in 2011, which was 2.0% up on the previous year, and generated wealth of 1,896.8 million euros in terms of value added, 1.3% more than in 2010.
In the ICT sector the percentage of innovating companies carrying out R&D far exceeded the other sectors
8.5% of companies in the ICT sector carried out R&D activities, a percentage far superior to the 1.0% of the total for all sectors. Furthermore, this sector, despite representing just 1.3% of companies, accounted for 11.3% of those implementing R&D and, with 70.3 million euros, carried out 6.8% of the total expenditure on internal R&D in the business sector.
With regards to personnel dedicated to R&D in this sector, in 2011 there were 1,245 individuals in equivalent-to-full-time positions (9.5% of those provided by all business sectors), of which 311 were women. Going into further detail with regards to employment in this sector, there were 602 researchers in equivalent-to-full-time positions , of which 153 were women.
Regarding innovation, as with R&D, there were significant differences between the total for all sectors and that for the ICT sector. In 2011, 32.8% of establishments in the ICT sector were innovators compared to 12.3% of the total for all sectors. If company size is taken into account, those with 10 or more employees recorded percentages of 58.6% in the first case and 30.8% for the total number of sectors.
Regarding expenditure on innovation, ICT establishments contributed 225.4 million euros, 8.4% of total company expenditure. Of this expenditure, 194.0 million corresponded to establishments of 10 or more employees, which was 8.8% of the total spent by companies of this size.
It was also clear that the ICT sector destined a greater proportion of resources towards R&D+i than the other sectors, observing the figures spent on innovation and on R&D with regards to the turnover figure (innovation and internal R&D intensity ratios). Specifically, intensity in innovation stood at 4.0 in this sector compared to 1.6 for the total of economic sectors; in the case of internal R&D, the ratio stood at 1.8 for the ICT sector and 0.8 for the total.
Both use of ICT technologies and e-Commerce were more generalised in the ICT sector than in the total number of sectors
As the use of ICT technology is extremely commonplace amongst the companies in this sector, e-Commerce, although more developed than in the other sectors, continued to have a modest implementation, above all in terms of sales. The establishments that made purchases via this method in the ICT sector accounted for 50.6% and those that carried out sales accounted for 8.9% compared to 16.1% and 4.1% respectively for the total of all sectors.
On the other hand, the impact of the ICT sector on the foreign trade of goods was not very significant. Whilst exports accounted for 271.7 million euros out of a total of 20,488.2 million, imports stood at 352.0 million out of the 17,309.7 million of total imports.
Amongst the most common products in these exchanges, Electronic Components (49.2%) and Other ICT Products (31.4%) stood out in exports and Other ICT Products (30.5%), Electronic Components (28.7%) and Audio and Video Equipment (17.4%) in imports.
Lastly, if we compare ICT sector data for the Basque Country with Spain as a whole in companies with 10 or more employees, differences can be appreciated in the indicators observed. Whilst the percentage of innovating companies and innovation intensity was higher in the Basque Country, the percentages of companies implementing e-Commerce was higher in Spain as a whole. Regarding the use of ICT technologies the percentages obtained were very similar.
Methodological note:
The ICT sector is made up of manufacturing and service sectors whose main activity is related to development, production, marketing and intensive use of Information & Communication Technologies.
Eustat website. Methodological files: ICT Industry
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on the Information and Communication Technology Sector (ICT)