Press Release 23/12/2022

INFORMATION SOCIETY OVERVIEW. 2022

56.5% of internet users participated on social networks and 55.2% of companies used them for business purposes in the Basque Country in 2022

55.1% of people made an online purchase and 28.0% of establishments engaged in e-commerce

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment in the Basque Country has shown a steady increase year after year, according to the Information Society Overview 2022 prepared by Eustat. Not all equipment increased equally or to the same degree.

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 who had ICT, on the Province where the company was located and its sector of economic activity.

Sphere of households and those who comprise them

Technology equipment associated with connectivity formed part of the majority of households in the Basque Country and displayed an upward trend. 86.9% of Basque households had an internet connection (almost all being a broadband connection), an increase of 29.1 percentage points since 2012. Internet connection rose to 94.8% among families with at least one person aged between 16 and 74.

Thus, computers were present in 74.7% of households, 12.1 percentage points more than in 2012. This upward trend was more evident in technology with greater portability, as in the case of laptop computers, which were present in 59.3% of households, meaning that its increase over the last 10 years was somewhat larger (16 percentage points). Furthermore, almost all households (97.4%) already had a mobile telephone, i.e. 6.3 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: 91.3% had access to the internet at home (24.5 percentage points more than in 2012), 81.3% had a computer (up 9.7 points) and 98.5% a mobile phone (3.6 more points).

Among other household equipment, it is worth highlighting that in 2022, more than half the population of the Basque Country (57.8%) already had pay-TV. This equipment, associated with communication in households, has grown considerably, given that 10 years ago only 15.7% of the population had it.

The number of internet users aged 15 and over (in the last 3 months) accounted for 86.3% of the Basque population in this age group, a percentage that increased by 19.5 percentage points in 10 years (66.8% in 2012).

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 (97.3%) and, to a lesser extent, used email (83.1%), read news stories, newspapers or magazines (71.4%) and searched for information on goods or services (71.8%). Participation on social networks reached 56.5% among the internet user population aged 15 and over and rose to 90.8% 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. 70.2% of people online used the internet for banking activities in 2022. As regards activities related to leisure and culture that take place outside the home, 49.5% of the internet user population booked accommodation or trips related to tourism, up 32.9 percentage points on the previous year (2021). The 2022 result exceeded the result prior to COVID-19 in 2020 (47.9% in the first quarter) by 1.6 points.

The electronic administration enables procedures to be carried out with the administration via telematic means. In this sphere, 56.3% of internet users submitted forms completed online to the administration, 49% gathered information and 44.8% obtained 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 55.1%, equivalent to a total of 898,600 people. This figure accounted for 47.6% of the entire Basque population aged 15 and over and was almost three times the number of people who made online purchases compared to 10 years ago (2.6 times) and 40.1% more than in 2017, five years ago. 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

A rhythm of positive development in the 2001-2022 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 93.5% and availability of a website at 54.3% of businesses in the Basque Country, situating them in comparatively high positions within the context of EU27 countries.

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 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 2001-2022 period, the percentage of those with a computer in their company went from 46.4% to 73.3%, an increase of 27 percentage points. Internet access, which in 2001 stood at 23.4%, reached 70.6% of employed people in 2022 and the number of those with email went from 25.8% to 69.8% in these twenty-one years, with both equipment groups registering increases of over 40 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.

For Public Administration, it should be pointed out that practically all public establishments of the Basque Country had ICT equipment in 2022. Thus, 99.8% had computers and an internet connection and 99.7% had email. As for mobile phones, despite being the least widespread item of ICT equipment, 86.2% of public establishments had them.

A relevant aspect of the information society is the relationship that companies have with the Administration. Thus, 94.6% of Basque companies with access to the internet carried out electronic procedures with the Public Administration in 2022. The progression in this sphere is undisputed, as the period between 2001 and 2022 saw a rise from 22.5% of establishments carrying out procedures via this medium to 94.6% in 2022. The percentage is even higher if only companies of 10 or more employees are taken into account, reaching 97.6% of establishments of this size in 2022, although the increase is less, as they started out from 43.9% in 2001.

The reality was different in the Primary Sector in the Primary Sector. Here, according to data from 2022, ICT was not as widely implemented compared to the other sectors, primarily due to its automation (97.4% of establishments employed 9 people or fewer) and the special characteristics of the activity itself. In this group, only establishments with fishing activity achieved much 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.

In relation to e-commerce for companies in the Basque Country, the most relevant detail was the unequal distribution according to whether it involved purchases or sales via this system.

The percentage of establishments carrying out e-commerce in 2002 stood at 4.4%, with 3.6% purchasing and 1.3% selling. In 2021, the last year available, the proportion of establishments doing e-commerce was 28.0%, with 25.0% purchasing and 8.3% selling. If size is taken into account, in companies of 10 or more employees, e-commerce in the 2002-2021 period evolved from 10.0% to 35.3%.

With regard to the evolution of the economic amounts that e-commerce moves in the Basque Country, in the period studied, 2002-2021, the figure for purchasing via e-commerce went from 1,509.5 million euros in 2002 to 18,241.3 million in 2021. In the case of sales, in 2002 this figure was 2,834.0 million euros, rising to 24,224.9 million in 2021. Therefore, although the percentage of companies doing electronic purchasing was higher than that for those carrying out sales via this system, the economic sums that were the object of transfer were much higher in the case of electronic sales.

Lastly, in Industry 4.0, which refers to the digital transformation of companies, the following indicators stood out among the nine analysed:

The use of Social Networks for business purposes, with 55.2% of establishments.

The use of applications relating to the activity and production processes of the company (Mobile Services), with 33.5% of establishments.

Cloud Computing, with 26.6% of establishments paying for this service.

Next, with percentages ranging from 10% to 20%, were Cyber Security Activities, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analysis. Finally, with below 5% of establishments, were Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and 3D Printers.

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 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/2022/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