Press Release 19/07/2023

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR (ICT) STATISTICS. 2021

32.4% of companies in the ICT sector are innovating companies and 7.3% carried out R&D in 2021 in the Basque Country

Innovation, R&D and e-commerce stand out in the ICT sector compared to other sectors

32.4% of companies in the ICT sector are innovating companies and 7.3% implemented internal R&D versus 19.9% and 1.0% respectively for all sectors in 2021 in the Basque Country, according to Eustat data.

In 2021, the ICT sector accounted for 2.3% of jobs and 1.9% of companies in the Basque economy. Likewise, it represented 2.1% of total value added (1,662 million), and reached a turnover of 4,441 million euros.

For another year, these figures represent positive data, with increases in both the number of companies, up 1.5%, and employment, up 3.4% compared to 2020. Furthermore, the turnover figure also grew by 9.2% compared to the previous year and value added rose by 2.0%.

Since 2010, the first year of the available historical series, the number of companies included in the ICT sector has increased by 34.1%, while the number of jobs has risen by 12.8%.

Specifically, in 2021, 2,804 companies and 25,051 jobs were registered in this sector, the highest figures since 2010, with an average company size of 8.9 people.

Companies in the ICT sector carried out more R&D+i activities than in all the other sectors

Despite representing just 1.9% of companies in the Basque Country, the ICT sector accounted for 13.8% of those implementing R&D and, with 101.1 million euros, carried out 7.9% of the total expenditure on internal R&D in the business sector.

Additionally, while across all sectors the companies which implemented internal R&D activities was 1.0%, companies in the ICT sector greatly surpassed this percentage since those which carried out internal R&D activities represented 7.3%.

In 2021, there were 1,721 people working in R&D in “full-time equivalent positions” of whom 22.7% (390) were women. These 1,721 people working in R&D in the ICT sector accounted for 11.6% of personnel in the business sector dedicated to R&D. If the comparison is made in respect of total R&D personnel, it constituted 8.3%.

Regarding innovation, as with R&D, there were significant differences between the total for all sectors and that for the ICT sector. In 2021, 32.4% of establishments in the ICT sector were innovators compared to 19.9% of the total for all sectors. If company size is taken into account, those with “10 or more employees” recorded percentages of 51.5% in the first case and 32.6% for the total number of sectors.

Regarding expenditure on innovation, ICT establishments contributed 343.7 million euros, 11.3% of total expenditure for all sectors Of this expenditure, 294.1 million corresponded to establishments with “10 or more employees”, which represented 11.2% of the total spent by companies of this size.

The ICT sector also allocated a greater proportion of resources towards R&D+i than the other sectors, as indicated by the figures spent both on innovation and on internal R&D with regard to the turnover figure (innovation and internal R&D intensity ratios). Specifically, innovation intensity in this sector was 6.4 compared to 1.7 over the economic sectors as a whole. In the case of internal R&D, the ratio was 2.2 for the ICT sector and 0.9 for all sectors.

E-commerce was more widespread in the ICT sector than in the total of all the sectors

The use of ICT technology is extremely commonplace amongst the companies in this sector, to the point that internet and email access reached almost 99.8%, compared to percentages slightly above 92% for the total of all sectors. Furthermore, websites in the ICT sector amounted to 71.6% and 57.5% of the total for all sectors.

E-commerce was significantly more developed than in the other sectors. The establishments that made purchases via this method in the ICT sector accounted for 67.1% and those that carried out sales accounted for 10.7%, compared to 25.0% and 8.3%, respectively, for the total for all sectors.

Hence, in 2021, 67.6% of ICT establishments engaged in e-commerce, whereas it represented 28.0% of the total for all sectors.

Lastly, the impact of the ICT sector on the foreign trade of goods remained at insignificant levels: exports accounted for 373.2 million euros out of a total of 26,021.9 million and imports stood at 558.0 million out of 21,282.4 million total imports, accounting for 1.4% and 2.6% respectively.

Standing out among the most common products traded in terms of exports were: Other ICT Products (40.1%) and Electronic Components (37.4%) and in imports: Other ICT Products (31.7%), Electronic Components (29.9%) and Telecommunications Equipment (20.9%).

Methodological note:

The ICT sector is made up of manufacturing industries and of services whose primary activity is linked to the development, production, commercialisation, and intensive use of Information and Communication Technologies, characterised by high rates of innovation, technological progress, and productivity. Accordingly, it has a considerable impact on economic activity. Eustat website. Methodology file: ICT sector

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