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Data from April 2013. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article presents an overview of statistics for the information service activities sector in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 63. This sector includes, for example, data processing, web hosting, web portals, news agencies and information searches.

Table 1: Key indicators, information service activities (NACE Division 63), EU-27, 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Figure 1: Sectoral analysis of information service activities (NACE Division 63), EU-27, 2010 (1)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2a: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, information service activities (NACE Division 63), EU-27, 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2b: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, information service activities (NACE Division 63), EU-27, 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 3: Largest and most specialised Member States in information service activities (NACE Division 63), EU-27, 2010 (1) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4a: Key indicators, information service activities (NACE Division 63), 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4b: Key indicators, information service activities (NACE Division 63), 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 5: Key size class indicators, information service activities (NACE Division 63), EU-27, 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6a: Employment by enterprise size class, information service activities (NACE Division 63), 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6b: Value added by enterprise size class, information service activities (NACE Division 63), 2010 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were 109 thousand enterprises operating within the information services (Division 63) sector in the EU-27 in 2010. Together they employed 481 thousand persons, equivalent to 0.4 % of the total workforce in the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) or 8.3 % of those persons employed in information and communication services (Section J). They generated EUR 27.3 billion of value added in 2009 which was a 0.5 % share of the non-financial business economy total and 5.7 % of the information and communication services total (both shares are also for 2009).

The apparent labour productivity of the EU-27’s information services sector in 2009 was EUR 55.7 thousand per person employed, which was the second lowest level among the six NACE divisions that constitute information and communication services. While the level of apparent labour productivity was below the EUR 84.6 thousand per person employed average for the whole of information and communication services (data are for 2010), it was still higher than the non-financial business economy average.

The EU-27’s information services sector recorded average personnel costs in 2009 of EUR 39.6 thousand per employee; this was the lowest level among the six NACE divisions that compose information and communication services, but remained above the non-financial business economy average of EUR 30.9 thousand per employee for 2010.

The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio combines the two previous indicators and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee. This ratio stood at 140.8 % for the EU-27's information services sector in 2009, which was slightly below the non-financial business economy average of 144.8 % in 2010, and even more adrift of the information and communication services average of 171.0 %.

The gross operating rate (the relation between the gross operating surplus and turnover) stood at 20.0 % for the EU-27’s information services sector in 2009, almost double the non-financial business economy average (10.1 % in 2010) and in line with the information and communication services average (20.9 % in 2010).

Sectoral analysis

The information services sector is divided, according to NACE, into just two subsectors (NACE groups). Just over three quarters (77.0 %) of the enterprises classified within the EU-27’s information services sector in 2010 had their principal activity within data processing, hosting and related activities and web portals (Group 63.1). The relative importance of this subsector was almost identical in terms of its contribution to sectoral value added (75.6 % or EUR 20.0 billion) and rose still higher in terms of employment, as it accounted for 80.2 % of the information services sectoral workforce, equivalent to 385.9 thousand persons.

Given the relatively large weight of the data processing, hosting and related activities and web portals subsector there was not a great deal of difference between the figures recorded for this subsector in relation to average productivity, personnel costs and profitability measures and the figures recorded for the whole of the information services sector. In 2010, the residual grouping of other information service activities (Group 63.2) had higher levels of apparent labour productivity (EUR 67.6 thousand per person employed), average personnel costs (EUR 43.0 thousand per employee) and wage-adjusted labour productivity (157.0 %) in the EU-27, as well as a higher gross operating rate (27.6 %).

Country analysis

The United Kingdom recorded the highest level of value added (EUR 7.6 billion) among the EU Member States for which data are available for the information services sector in 2010. Italy (EUR 4.9 billion) had the second highest level of value added, just ahead of Germany (EUR 4.4 billion). With the addition of France (EUR 3.3 billion), the four largest Member States within the information services sector contributed approximately three quarters of the EU-27’s value added. The United Kingdom was also the most specialised EU Member State, as 0.8 % of its non-financial business economy value added was generated within the information services sector; Italy, Austria and Slovakia where also relatively specialised, as the information services sector accounted for 0.7 % of the value added that was generated in their non-financial business economies in 2010. A more detailed analysis reveals that Slovakia had the highest degree of specialisation for data processing, hosting and related activities and web portals, while the overall specialisation of the United Kingdom was promoted by its prominent position for other information service activities.

By contrast, the least specialised EU Member States included Belgium, Spain, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania, as the information services sector contributed 0.2 % of the total value added generated in each of their non-financial business economies in 2010; the same share was recorded for Norway and for Turkey (data are for 2009).

The United Kingdom also recorded the highest level of apparent labour productivity for information services, reaching EUR 110.5 thousand per person employed in 2009; this figure was 2.1 times as high as the national average for the non-financial business economy, the biggest differential among any of the EU Member States. By contrast, Romania, Sweden, France, Italy, Hungary, Estonia and the Netherlands each reported that apparent labour productivity in the information services sector was lower than the non-financial business economy average.

The highest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for information services was registered by the United Kingdom (254.2 % in 2009) which was about 50 % higher than the national non-financial business economy average; this was, in turn, the biggest differential among the EU Member States. Germany was the only other Member State (among those for which data are available) to report a higher wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for information services than the average for the whole of its non-financial business economy, although the difference was minimal (150.4 % compared with 149.1 %). While the remaining Member States recorded relatively low wage-adjusted labour productivity rates for the information services sector in 2010, none of them recorded a ratio below parity (100 %) — as such, average value added per person employed more than covered average personnel costs. The only exception to this rule was Greece, where the latest data available relates to 2009, when a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of 76.5 % was recorded.

Based on an analysis of the gross operating rate (which is a measure of gross operating profitability) the information services sector was also relatively profitable. This analysis shows that in 2010 the gross operating rate ranged from highs of 38.7 % in the United Kingdom and 36.8 % in Slovakia, to lows of less than 10.0 % in Sweden, France and Luxembourg (the latter excludes web portals (Class 63.12).

Size class analysis

Micro enterprises (employing fewer than 10 persons) accounted for the largest share (38.0 %) of the EU-27’s information services workforce in 2010; this was contrary to the general pattern observed across all information and communication services together, where large enterprises employed the highest proportion (43.1 %) of the workforce. The 102.9 thousand micro enterprises that were active within the EU-27’s information services sector in 2010 employed a total of 182.7 thousand persons — indicating that, on average, these enterprises employed 1.8 persons each.

Large enterprises (employing 250 or more persons) accounted for the second highest share of the information services workforce, at just under a quarter (24.5 %) of the sectoral total in 2010, or 117.9 thousand persons. The remainder of the persons working within the information services sector were split equally between small enterprises (employing 10 to 49 persons) and medium-sized enterprises (employing 50 to 249 persons), as they accounted for 18.8 % and 18.7 % of the sectoral workforce respectively.

There is a lack of data available for an analysis of value added by enterprise size class; the information that is available shows a higher level of added value for medium-sized compared with small enterprises within the EU-27’s information services sector in 2010. The difference in the level of value added between these two size classes fed through into the apparent labour productivity ratio (as both small and medium-sized enterprises had almost equal shares of the workforce). Small enterprises reported an apparent labour productivity of EUR 47.5 thousand per person employed, while the figure for medium-sized enterprises was EUR 18.3 thousand per person employed higher.

In the Baltic Member States, Cyprus and Slovenia, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operated without any competition from large enterprises in the information services sector in 2010; this was also true in Norway. SMEs accounted for more than half of the value added generated in Hungary, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland and Austria. Data are only available for two further EU Member States — the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom — both of which reported that large enterprises had the highest share of sectoral value added. In the Czech Republic large enterprises within the information services sector accounted for 55.0 % of sectoral value added, a share that rose to a high of 70.8 % in the United Kingdom.

Data sources and availability

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS) and size class data, all of which are published annually.

The main series provides information for each EU Member State as well as a number of non-member countries at a detailed level according to the activity classification NACE. Data are available for a wide range of variables.

In structural business statistics, size classes are generally defined by the number of persons employed. A limited set of the standard structural business statistics variables (for example, the number of enterprises, turnover, persons employed and value added) are analysed by size class, mostly down to the three-digit (group) level of NACE. The main size classes used in this article for presenting the results are:

  • small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): with 1 to 249 persons employed, further divided into;
    • micro enterprises: with less than 10 persons employed;
    • small enterprises: with 10 to 49 persons employed;
    • medium-sized enterprises: with 50 to 249 persons employed;
  • large enterprises: with 250 or more persons employed.

Context

This article presents an overview of statistics for the information services sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 63. This division includes the activities of web search portals, data processing and hosting activities, as well as other activities that primarily supply information.

Data processing, hosting and related activities include the activities of providing infrastructure for hosting, data processing services and related activities. Included are specialised hosting activities such as web hosting, streaming services or application hosting, application service provisioning, and general time-share mainframe facilities to clients. Data processing activities include complete processing and specialised reports from data supplied by clients or providing automated data processing and data entry services including database running activities. The web portals activity includes the operation of websites that use a search engine to generate and maintain extensive databases of internet addresses and content in an easily searchable format. This activity also includes the operation of other websites that act as portals to the internet, such as media sites providing periodically updated content.

Other information service activities include news agency activities, for example, news syndicate and news agency activities furnishing news, pictures and features to the media, as well as other information service activities not elsewhere classified, such as telephone-based information services, information search services on a contract or fee basis, and news and press clipping services.

This NACE division is composed of two groups:

  • data processing, hosting and related activities; web portals (Group 63.1);
  • other information service activities (Group 63.2).

Activities of call centres are excluded (Division 82, part of office administrative, office support and other business support activities).

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

SBS – services (sbs_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics - services (sbs_na_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics by size classes - services (sbs_sc_sc)
Services by employment size classes (NACE Rev. 2 H-N S95) (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
SBS data by NUTS 2 regions and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008 onwards) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Dedicated section

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Other information

External links

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