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International comparison:
Eurostat
For more information on this release:
E-mail: sbs_rap@cso.ie Kevin Phelan (+353) 21 453 5208 Mary Duggan (+353) 21 453 5584
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5791
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Information Society Statistics - Enterprises

2014

Enterprise purchase of cloud computing services, 2014
  IrelandEU-28
Enterprise purchase of any cloud computing services28%19%
of whichStorage of files20%10%
 E-mail16%12%
 Hosting the enterprise's database(s)10%7%
 Office software10%6%
 Finance or accounting software applications7%6%
 Customer Relationship Managemant (CRM) software6%4%
 Computing power to run the enterprise's own software5%3%
Enterprises could purchase more than one type of cloud computing service, hence the sum of the different cloud computing services type does not equal the total figure.

Purchases of cloud computing services by Irish Enterprises above the EU average

Figure 1 : Purchase of cloud computing services, 2014
go to full release

 

In 2014, 28% of Irish enterprises employing 10 or more persons purchased cloud computing services compared with an EU-28 average of 19%.  At 20%, the most popular cloud computing service purchased by Irish enterprises was the storage of files, while 16% of enterprises purchased e-mail services. In terms of enterprises purchasing cloud computing services, Ireland ranked fifth in the EU-28. Finland had the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU-28 purchasing cloud computing services at 51%,  24% of enterprises in the United Kingdom purchased these services, while Romania had the lowest take up rate at 5%. See Headline Table, Figure 1 and Table 1.

Insufficient knowledge of cloud computing is the primary reason why enterprises do not use cloud computing services 

Of those Irish enterprises who did not purchase cloud computing services, 30% of enterprises stated that this was due to insufficient knowledge.  This compares with an EU-28 average of 33% of enterprises, while 21% of Irish enterprises did not purchase cloud computing services due to the high cost. This compares with an EU-28 average of 24% of enterprises.  See Figure 2 and Table 2.

EU-28Ireland
Insufficient knowledge of cloud computing3330
High cost of buying cloud computing services2421
Risk of a security breach2816
Uncertainty about location of data2616
Uncertainty about legal issues2514

Use of social media by enterprises increases compared with 2013

In 2014, 61% of Irish enterprises used some type of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This compares with 48% of enterprises in 2013.  Data for 2014 is only available for 25 of the EU-28 countries, however an EU-28 average has been calculated by Eurostat. It indicates that the use of social media has increased from 30% of EU-28 enterprises to 36% of EU-28 enterprises in 2014. In terms of enterprises using social media, Ireland ranked second in the EU-28 compared with third in 2013.  Malta had the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU-28 using social media at 66%.

The primary method of using social media as a way of connecting with customers was the use of social networks, with 58% of Irish enterprises stating they used social networks such as Facebook. This compares with 46% of Irish enterprises using social networks in 2013.   Comparable data from Eurostat show that the use of social networks by EU-28 enterprises has increased from 28% in 2013 to 33% in 2014. Irish enterprises increased their usage of blogs or microblogs such as Twitter with 27% of enterprises using this method in 2014 compared with 20% in 2013.  The use of multimedia content sharing websites such as YouTube increased from 14% of enterprises in 2013 to 19% of enterprises in 2014. See Figure 3 and Table 3.

EU-28 2013Ireland 2013EU-28 2014Ireland 2014
Any social media30483661
0000
Social networks28463358
Enterprise's blogs or microblogs10201227
Multimedia content sharing tools11141219
Wiki based knowledge sharing tools6747

Half of large enterprises conduct their sales electronically

In 2014, 49% of large enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 44% of total sales of large enterprises. 23% of small enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 15% of small enterprises sales. 43% of medium sized enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 20% of total sales of medium sized enterprises. See Figure 4 and Table 12.

 

Other salese-Commerce sales
Small (10 to 49)8515
Medium (50 to 249)8020
Large (250+)5644

69% of large enterprises made e-Commerce purchases in 2014

In 2014, 69% of large enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 36% of all purchases made by large enterprises, while 54% of medium sized enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 15% of total purchases for this size class. 45% of small enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which amounted to 15% of total purchases for small enterprises.  See Figure 5 and Table 12.

Other purchasese-Commerce purchases
Small (10 to 49)8515
Medium (50 to 249)8515
Large (250+)6436

More enterprises engaged in e-Commerce purchases than sales

Across the three employment size classes, the proportion of enterprises that have made e-Commerce purchases is higher than those enterprises who have made e-Commerce sales, this difference is most pronounced with small enterprises. See Figure 6.

% of enterprises with e-Commerce purchases% of enterprises with e-Commerce sales
Small (10 to 49)39.820.4
Medium (50 to 249)46.840.4
Large (250+)59.345

Services sector enterprises had the largest share of e-Commerce purchases by number of enterprises 

In 2014, Services sector enterprises reported that 48% of enterprises had made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 27% of total purchases in that sector. Comparable figures for Construction enterprises indicated that 45% of enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 7% of total purchases in Construction, while 40% of Manufacturing enterprises reported making e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 24% of all purchases made by Manufacturing enterprises.  See Figure 7 and Table 4.

e-Commerce purchases as a percentage of total enterprisese-Commerce purchases as a percentage of total purchases
Manufacturing 4024
Construction 457
Selected services 4827

Services sector had the largest share of e-Commerce sales by turnover

27% of Services enterprises reported e-Commerce sales which accounted for 35% of total turnover for that sector. The Manufacturing sector had the largest share of e-Commerce sales with 33% of enterprises reporting e-Commerce sales which accounted for 29% of all turnover generated in that sector. Just 5% of Construction enterprises made e-Commerce sales which accounted for 1% of total Construction turnover.  Consistently across all sectors and size classes, the proportion of enterprises that had e-commerce purchases was higher than those making e-commerce sales. See Figure 8 and Table 4.

 

e-Commerce sales as a percentage of total enterprisese-Commerce sales as a percentage of total turnover
Manufacturing 3329
Construction 51
Selected services 2735

 

The CSO also collects data on ICT usage by Irish households.  These results can be seen at http://cso.ie/shorturl.aspx/207

 

Table 1 EU enterprises use of cloud computing services, 2014
 %
 
EU - 2819
Belgium21
Bulgaria8
Czech Republic15
Denmark38
Germany11
Estonia15
Ireland28
Greece8
Spain14
France12
Croatia22
Italy40
Cyprus10
Latvia6
Lithuania13
Luxembourg13
Hungary8
Malta17
Netherlands28
Austria12
Poland6
Portugal13
Romania5
Slovenia15
Slovakia19
Finland51
Sweden39
United Kingdom24
Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database
Table 2 Factors preventing enterprises from buying cloud computing services, 2014
  %
 IrelandEU-281
   
Insufficient knowledge of cloud computing3033
High cost of buying cloud computing services2124
Risk of a security breach1628
Uncertainty about location of data1626
Uncertainty about legal issues1425
   
1EU-28 excluding Czech Republic, France, Malta and the United Kingdom. This question was optional.
Table 3 Use of social media for enterprises, 2013 and 2014
    %
 Ireland 2013EU-28 2013Ireland 2014EU-28 20141
     
Use of any social media48306136
Use of social networks46285833
Use of enterprise's blogs or microblogs20102712
Use of Multimedia content sharing tools14111912
Use of wiki based knowledge sharing tools7674
     
1EU-28 excluding Belguim, Czech Republic and France. This question was optional.
Table 4 Purchases and sales via e-Commerce, 2012 to 2014
 %
    Manufacturing sectors Construction sector Selected services sectors Total
    201220132014 201220132014 201220132014 201220132014
                   
Use of e-Commerce for purchases (as % of total enterprises)         
 by internet or EDI 544440 413745 514748 514647
by internet 514035 393440 464141 464040
by EDI 121018 5416 141426 131325
                  
Use of e-Commerce for sales (as % of total enterprises)               
by internet or EDI  303233 965 242427 232427
by internet 201517 744 211923 201822
by EDI 152026 244 61017 71118
                  
Percentage of purchases by e-Commerce (as % of total purchases)               
by internet or EDI 253224 457 332727 302926
by internet 112113 334 1287 11129
by EDI 131111 123 222020 191717
                  
Percentage of sales by e-Commerce (as % of total turnover)               
by internet or EDI 102729 111 283535 213132
by internet 334 000 111616 81111
by EDI 62425 011 171919 132021
                   
                  
Table 5 Purchases and sales via e-Commerce by sector, 2014
                   %
  Manufacturing sectors Construction sector Selected services sectors
NACE Division110-1819-2223-2526-33Total 41-43 45-4749-5355-5658-636869-7477-82TotalTotal
                    
                    
Use of e-Commerce for purchases (as % of total enterprises)                  
by internet or EDI 3735365040 45 524136745853434847
by internet 3333324035 40 393834705749394140
by EDI 1218182718 16 362314311917152625
                   
Use of e-Commerce for sales (as % of total enterprises)                  
by internet or EDI  4327203133 5 273833311013222727
by internet 2215131617 4 213032261011202322
by EDI  3320182626 4 1629221979121718
                   
Percentage of purchases by e-Commerce (as % of total purchases)                  
by internet or EDI  1431132724 7 21815481015112726
by internet 91812713 4 4681476779
by EDI 51212011 3 1726342852017
                 
Percentage of sales by e-Commerce (as % of total turnover)                  
by internet or EDI  322873029 1 19501470410133532
by internet 111244 0 83510292391611
by EDI  222762625 1 11155412741921
                   
1 See Background notes for NACE Rev2 classification
Table 6 Purchases via e-Commerce in enterprises, Ireland and EU-28, 2012 to 2014
   %
 201220132014
EU - 28343738
Belgium232132
Bulgaria6611
Czech Republic445054
Denmark747872
Germany514846
Estonia131432
Ireland514641
Greece92014
Spain212228
France192025
Croatia22:30
Italy354240
Cyprus181315
Latvia232232
Lithuania232225
Luxembourg414650
Hungary292830
Malta232124
Netherlands:5255
Austria596067
Poland192124
Portugal201825
Romania820:
Slovenia263026
Slovakia182816
Finland504751
Sweden474145
United Kingdom536051
Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database
Table 7 Sales via e-Commerce in enterprises, Ireland and EU-28, 2012 to 2014
   %
 201220132014
EU - 28161718
Belgium242124
Bulgaria779
Czech Republic262728
Denmark293028
Germany242625
Estonia131314
Ireland232424
Greece91010
Spain141418
France141415
Croatia272127
Italy688
Cyprus8812
Latvia9109
Lithuania172219
Luxembourg161713
Hungary121313
Malta181819
Netherlands202224
Austria161617
Poland111112
Portugal151515
Romania5108
Slovenia161518
Slovakia142014
Finland211919
Sweden272626
United Kingdom212222
Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database
Table 8 General findings of enterprise ICT survey, as a percentage of all enterprises, 2013 and 2014
    %
   Manufacturing sectorsConstruction sectorSelected services sectorsTotal
  20132014201320142013201420132014
            
General information about ICT systems        
Using a computer 100100989995989698
           
Use of the internet        
Using the internet 9999989994979598
Have a website or homepage8988707673717573
           
Purposes of using the internet (as provider)        
Facilitating access to catalogues and price lists4445221938363836
           
Electronic sharing        
Uses an ERP software package3437101721222223
Capture, store and make available information about clients2426121126282527
Analyse information about clients for marketing purposes232391026272526
            
Table 9 General findings of enterprise ICT survey, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2014
                 %
  Manufacturing sectorsConstruction sectorSelected services sectors
 NACE Division110-1819-2223-2526-33Total41-4345-4749-5355-5658-636869-7477-82TotalTotal
                  
                 
General information about ICT systems                
Using a computer 9999100100100999999961009599999898
                 
Use of the internet                
Using the internet 989910010099999899931009599989798
Have a website or homepage 879091878876637370937583807173
                 
Purposes of using the internet (as provider)                
Facilitating access to catalogues and price lists 465441434519372746383219283636
                 
Electronic sharing                
 Uses an ERP software package 2754235037172718939926192223
 Capture, store and make available information about clients233315362611282912553037372827
 Analyse information about clients for marketing purposes223113292310292716522528312726
                  
1 See Background notes for NACE Rev2 classification  
Table 10 External connection to the internet, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2013 and 2014
           %
    Manufacturing sectors Construction sector Selected services sectors Total
    20132014 20132014 20132014 20132014
               
Type of external connection to the internet1           
 Modem/ISDN 2117 2316 1918 1918
 Broadband 9898 9597 9495 9595
               
Broadband connection as % of all enterprises1           
 DSL7662 7661 7661 7661
 Other fixed wire connection 4035 3028 3831 3832
 Mobile broadband connection6868 7179 5861 6163
 Other mobile connection3437 4147 3234 3235
               
Enterprises with broadband           
 Using ERP2 software 3437 1017 2223 2324
 Using CRM3 software 2829 1514 3434 3232
               
 Purchases by internet or EDI4434 3834 5045 4943
 Sales by internet or EDI3230 53 2626 2525
               
1Enterprises may have more than one internet connection. Similarly, those with broadband may use more than one type of connection    
2Enterprise Resource Planning    
3Customer Relationship Management    
Table 11 External connection to the internet, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2014
                  %
   Manufacturing sectors Construction sectorSelected services
 NACE Division 110-1819-2223-2526-33Total 41-4345-4749-5355-5658-636869-7477-82TotalTotal
                   
                   
Type of external connection to the internet2
      Modem/ISDN 1817141917 16211418152014161818
      Broadband 96999810098 97969890989597959595
                   
Broadband connection as % of all enterprises2
      DSL  6359546762 61645956625463626161
      Other fixed wire broadband connection 2948343635 28313523473436363132
      Mobile broadband connection7069656768 79587049786474736163
      Other mobile connection 3937333537 47324627453339413435
                  
Enterprises with broadband
      Using ERP3 software  2855234937 172818940926202324
      Using CRM4 software 2734173729 14353118623339423432
      Purchases by internet or EDI 3132294134 34483834685746384543
      Sales by internet or EDI 4126162730 3253335301110202625
                   
1See Background notes for NACE Rev2 classification
2Enterprises may have more than one internet connection. Similarly, those with broadband may use more than one type of connection
3Enterprise Resource Planning
4Customer Relationship Management
Table 12 ICT usage by size of enterprise, 2014
 Small (10 to 49)Medium (50 to 249)Large (250+)
    
Unit %%%
Enterprises using broadband 94.798.698.7
Enterprises using other fixed broadband connection53.671.791.4
Enterprises using mobile broadband connection 59.575.087.5
    
Enterprises with e-Commerce purchases45.453.568.8
e-Commerce purchases as a % of total purchases 14.515.336.0
    
Enterprises with e-Commerce sales 22.743.249.4
e-Commerce sales as a % of total sales14.519.744.0
    

Background Notes

Introduction

The ICT Enterprises Survey is conducted to provide harmonised enterprise statistics at EU level. The survey on ICT usage is carried out annually under EU Regulation (EC) No. 808/2004.

Summary of survey methodology

The ICT Enterprises Survey is  conducted as a wholly electronic survey via the CSO’s e-form system, allowing sampled enterprises to complete and return the survey form electronically. Reminders are periodically sent to non-respondents throughout the year and a telephone campaign is also conducted to ensure that the response rate is sufficient for the survey. The 2014 response rate is 47.2%. Returned survey forms are verified and edited before the data is grossed up to the sample frame population.

A pilot survey was conducted in 2002 and a full annual survey began in 2003. Approximately 7,000 enterprises are surveyed in the first quarter of each year. The sample of enterprises is chosen from the CSO’s Business Register.  The overall results are released by Eurostat on an EU-28 wide basis.  The results presented in this release are from the 2014 survey.  The results cover enterprises with ten or more persons engaged in the manufacturing, construction and selected services sectors. Enterprises operating in the following NACE Rev.2 classifications were included in the coverage of this survey.  NACE coding is a classification system which groups enterprises according to their business activities. Each business activity category is assigned a unique NACE code.

 

 

NACE Rev.2 categories used in the ICT survey

 

 

Section C (10-33)

 

                 

 

 

Manufacturing

 

Food, beverages, tobacco, textiles, wearing apparel, leather, wood, printing and paper products (10 to 18)

Petroleum, chemical, pharmaceutical, rubber and plastic products          

(19 to 22)

Other non-metallic mineral products, basic metals and fabricated metal products (23 to 25)

Computer, electronic and other equipment, repairs and installation, other manufacturing (26 to 33)

 

Section D, E (35-39)

Electricity, gas and steam, water supply, sewerage and waste management

 

Section F (41-43)

Construction

 

Section G (45-47)

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

 

Section H (49-53)

Transportation and storage

 

Section I (55-56)

Accommodation and food service activities

 

Section J (58-63)

Information and communication

 

Section L (68)

Real estate activities

 

Division M (69-74)

 

Section N (77-82)

Group ( 95.1)

Professional, scientific and technical activities (selected sectors)

 

Administrative and Support Service activities

 Repair of computers 

 

 

Results 

Results are based on the survey of e-Commerce and ICT usage by enterprises which was conducted in the first half of 2014.  This survey covers enterprises with 10 or more persons engaged in the manufacturing, construction and selected services sectors. 

Eurostat tables

The enterprise survey of ICT and e-Commerce usage is carried out across all member countries of the EU-28. Each national country designs their own enterprise survey, using a template questionnaire issued by Eurostat, and incorporating some optional modules.

National results are transmitted to Eurostat annually and subsequently published by Eurostat in December of each year. Further information on Eurostat tables and comparable results across member countries of the EU-28 are available online @ http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database

Glossary of Terms

Broadband: High-speed, always-on internet access running with a speed of greater than 128Kb/sec (Kilobytes per second).

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): Digital Subscriber Line technologies are designed to increase bandwidth available over standard copper telephone wires.  Includes IDSL, HDSL, SDSL, ADSL, RADSL, VDSL, DSL-Lite and xDSL.

Electronic Commerce (e-Commerce): Transactions conducted over IP (Internet Protocol) based networks and over other computer mediated networks.  The goods and services are ordered over those networks, but the payment and ultimate delivery of the goods or service may be conducted on or offline.  Orders received via telephone, facsimile and non-interactive e-mails are not counted as electronic commerce.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Electronic exchange of forms, such as for orders, between geographically dispersed locations.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Enterprise Resource Planning consists of one or a set of software applications that integrate information and processes across the several business functions of the enterprise.

Extranet: A secure extension of an intranet that allows external users to access some parts of an organisation’s intranet.

Intranet: An internal company communications network using IP-based communications within an organisation.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN): Integrated Services Digital Network is the digital version of the old telephone system.  ISDN offers many services such as private virtual networks, high-speed facsimile (fax), video-conferencing and most importantly, high speed communications.

LAN: Local Area Network.  This relates to your company’s computer network, usually within an office, building or closed geographical area.

Modem: Device that converts outgoing digital signals from a computer to analogue signals which can be transmitted via a conventional copper telephone line and which converts incoming analogue signals to digital.

Social Media: Use of social media refers to the enterprise’s use of applications based on internet technology or communication platforms for connecting, creating and exchanging content online with customers, suppliers, partners or within the enterprise.  Enterprises using social media are considered to be those that have a user profile, an account or a user licence depending on the requirements of the social media type. Social networks e.g. Facebook, Linkedln, Xing, Viadeo, Yammer, etc; Blogs or microblogs e.g. Twitter; Multimedia content shared websites e.g. YouTube, Flickr, Picassa, SlideShare; Wiki based knowledge sharing sites e.g. Wikipedia.

Reference to third party brands, products and trademarks are for the sake of clarification and are not intended to promote the use of such products.

Member states of the EU-28

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

United Kingdom

 

 

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