Press Release 30/07/2024

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR (ICT) STATISTICS. 2022

In 2022, the ICT sector reached 2.4% both in value added and employment in the Basque Country’s economy

This is especially noteworthy in R&D+i and e-commerce, which carried out 8.4% of internal expenditure on R&D and 12.9% of expenditure on innovation and 73% of companies used e-commerce

In 2022, turnover in the ICT sector was 4,921 million euros, which represented 1,845 million euros of added value, 2.4% of the total and 3 tenths of a percentage point more than the previous year, according to Eustat data. Similarly, this meant 2,816 companies with 26,625 jobs, 1.9% and 2.4% of the Basque economy as a whole, respectively.

For another year, these figures represent positive data, with increases in both the number of companies, up 0.4%, and employment, with a rise of 6.3% compared to the previous year (2021). Furthermore, the turnover figure also increased by 10.8% and value added rose by 11.0%.

Since 2010, the first year of the available historical series, the number of companies included in the ICT sector has increased by 34.7%, while the number of jobs has risen by 19.8%.

Specifically, in 2022, 2,816 companies and 26,625 jobs were registered in this sector, the highest figures since 2010, with an average company size of 9.5 people.

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

Despite representing just 1.9% of companies in the Basque Country, the ICT sector accounted for 14.4% of companies implementing R&D and, with 115.7 million euros, carried out 8.4% of the total expenditure on internal R&D in the business sector.

Additionally, while across all sectors, 1.1% of companies implemented internal R&D activities, in companies in the ICT sector this percentage reached 7.6%.

In 2022, there were 1,790 people working in R&D in “full-time equivalent positions” of whom 23.9% (428) were women. These 1,790 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, this constituted 8.2%.

Regarding innovation, as with R&D, there were significant differences between the total for all sectors and that for the ICT sector. In 2022, 33.5% of establishments in the ICT sector were innovators compared to 23.6% of the total for all sectors. If company size is taken into account, those with 10 or more employees recorded percentages of 48.8% in the first case and 35.4% for the total number of sectors.

Regarding expenditure on innovation, ICT establishments contributed 425.6 million euros, 12.9% of total expenditure for all sectors Of this expenditure, 321.0 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 6.6 compared to 1.6 over the economic sectors as a whole. In the case of internal R&D, the ratio was 1.9 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 access reached almost 99.7%, compared to percentages of 94.7% for the total of all sectors. Furthermore, websites in the ICT sector amounted to 72.2% and 57.5% of the total for all sectors.

E-commerce was also significantly more developed than in the other sectors. The establishments that made purchases via this method in the ICT sector accounted for 72.5% and those that carried out sales accounted for 13.5%, compared to 25.7% and 8.5%, respectively, for the total for all sectors.

Hence, 73.0% of ICT establishments engaged in e-commerce in 2022, whereas this represented 28.7% 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 342.4 million euros out of a total of 32,721.4 million and imports stood at 570.9 million out of 29,661.6 million total imports, accounting for 1.0% and 1.9% respectively.

Standing out among the most common products traded in terms of exports were: Other ICT Products (41.4%), Electronic Components (35.8%) and Telecommunications Equipment (12.1%) and in terms of imports: Other ICT Products (34.2%), Electronic Components (32.1%), Audio and Video Equipment (12.9%) and Telecommunications Equipment (11.9%).

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