Press Release 10/23/2015

HIGH TECHNOLOGY SCOREBOARD 2013

The high technology sector generated 8.9% of jobs in the Basque Country in 2013

This sector accounts for 40.6% of companies and 67.7% of employed people who do R&D in the business sector

The high and medium-high technology sector, which covers all activities with a sound technological base and fast renewal of knowledge, employed 86,571 workers in 2013, 8.9% of the Basque Country total, according to data prepared by EUSTAT. These activities were carried out in a total of 4,718 companies, which is 1.5% more than the previous year. However, there was a decrease of 1.3% compared to 2012, but which was in any case lower than that seen in the Basque economy overall (-2.4%).

High technology companies posted a turnover figure of 17,183.5 million euros in 2013, which was 4.3% down on the previous year, and generated wealth of 5,806.4 million euros in terms of value added, 5.4% less than in 2012.

In the high technology sector the percentage of innovating companies carrying out R&D exceeded the other sectors

14.1% of companies in the high technology 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 3.0% of companies, accounted for 40.6% of those implementing R&D and, with 683.7 million euros, carried out 68.9% of the total expenditure on internal R&D in the business sector.

With regards to personnel dedicated to R&D in this sector, in 2013 there were 8,924 individuals in equivalent-to-full-time positions (67.7% of those provided by the business sector as a whole), of which 2,752 were women. Going into further detail with regards to employment in this sector, there were 5,353 researchers in equivalent-to-full-time positions, of which 1,670 were women.

Regarding expenditure on innovation, high technology establishments contributed 1,264.2 million euros, 49.3% of total company expenditure. Of this expenditure, 1,159.5 million corresponded to establishments of 10 or more employees, which was 52.8% of the total spent by companies of this size.

It was also clear that the high technology sector allocated a greater proportion of resources towards R&D&I than the other sectors, observing the figures spent both on innovation and on R&D with regards to the turnover figure (innovation and internal R&D intensity ratios). Specifically, innovation intensity in this sector was 6.61 compared to 1.65 over the economic sectors as a whole. In the case of internal R&D, the ratio was 4.04 for the high technology sector and 0.85 for the economy as a whole.

Both the use of ICT technology and e-Commerce were more widespread in the high technology sector than in the total for all 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 high technology sector accounted for 39.2% and those that carried out sales accounted for 7.9% compared to 19.7% and 5.2% respectively for the total of all sectors.

On the other hand, the impact of the high technology sector on the foreign trade of goods was not very significant. Whilst exports accounted for 831.2 million euros out of a total of 20,631.9 million, imports stood at 514.4 million out of the 15,961.6 million of total imports, accounting for 4.0% and 3.2% respectively.

Amongst the most common products in these exchanges, Machinery and Mechanical Equipment (54.9%), Manufacture of Aircraft and Spacecraft (13,2%) and Electronic Material and Equipment (10.2%) stood out in exports; and Electronic Material and Equipment (27.7%), Manufacture of Aircraft and Spacecraft (23.0%), Scientific Instruments (15.2%) and Machinery and Mechanical Equipment (13.3%) in imports.

Lastly, if we compare high technology sector data for the Basque Country with Spain as a whole in companies with 10 or more employees, differences can be seen in the indicators observed. Thus, the percentage of innovating companies, intensity in innovation, the percentage of staff in R&D and the proportion of R&D expenditure are higher for this sector in the Basque Country, whilst in the use of ICT technologies, the percentages obtained are very similar.

Methodological note:

The sectors that belong to high technology are those that, given their degree of complexity, require a continuous effort of research and a sound technological base. The activities included in this sector, according to the CNAE 2009, are listed on the Eustat Website. Methodology file: High technology scoreboard

For further information:

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