Use of Information and Communication Technologies<br>Almost two thirds of enterprises in the EU27 had a website in 2008<br>Broadband access increasing

STAT/08/173
9 December 2008

Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Almost two thirds of enterprises in the EU27 had a website in 2008
Broadband access increasing

In the EU27, 93% of enterprises¹ of ten or more persons employed had access to the internet in January 2008, the same as in January 2007, and 81% of enterprises had a broadband internet connection, up from 77% in January 2007. On average in the EU27, 64% of enterprises had a website in January 2008, compared with 63% in January 2007. These data² come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, and form part of the results of a community survey conducted at the beginning of 2008 on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in enterprises in the EU27 Member States, Iceland and Norway. Besides the indicators presented, the survey also covers e-commerce, e-government and e-business indicators.

Almost all enterprises in the Netherlands and Finland have internet access

In January 2008, the highest proportions of enterprises with internet access in the EU27 were recorded in the Netherlands and Finland (both 99%), Denmark (98%) and Belgium, Austria and Slovenia (97% each). The percentage was less than 90% in only five Member States: Romania (67%), Bulgaria (83%), Hungary (86%), Latvia (88%) and Cyprus (89%).

The proportion of enterprises with a broadband connection in January 2008 was above 90% in Spain, France and Finland (92% each) and in Belgium (91%). Only in Romania (44%), Lithuania (56%) and Poland (59%) did less than 60% of enterprises have a broadband connection.

The data show that while internet access appears to be approaching saturation in nearly all Member States, the level of broadband internet access is still increasing.

Internet access and broadband connection by enterprises¹, 2008* (%)

* Data refer to January 2008, except for France (month before data collection, carried out between 11/2007 and 3/2008), Netherlands (end 2007) and United Kingdom (December 2007)

** EU27 aggregates exclude Greece

*** Provisional data

: Data not available

More than 80% of enterprises in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland have a website

The share of enterprises having a website or home page in January 2008 differed significantly between Member States with Denmark (87%), Sweden (86%), the Netherlands (85%) and Finland (82%) having the highest percentages. Only in Romania (27%), Bulgaria (33%), Latvia (42%), Portugal (46%), Cyprus and Hungary (both 48%) did less than half of enterprises have a website.

Among those enterprises having a website in the EU27 in January 2008, 57% provided product catalogues or price lists, 26% had facilities for online ordering, 26% for online job advertising or job applications and 10% for online payment.

Enterprises¹ with a website or home page and facilities provided, 2008* (%)

* Data refer to January 2008, except for France (month before data collection, carried out between 11/2007 and 3/2008), Netherlands (end 2007) and United Kingdom (December 2007)
** EU27 aggregates exclude Greece
*** Provisional data

: Data not available or not reliable

1. The survey covered enterprises with at least 10 persons employed in the economic sectors manufacturing, construction, distributive trades, hotels and accommodation, transport and communication, real estate, renting and business activities, motion picture and video activities, radio and television activities.
2. Eurostat, Data in Focus 48/2008 "ICT usage by enterprises 2008". The publication can be downloaded for free in PDF format from the Eurostat website. The full set of data can be found in the dedicated section: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ict under "Data".

Eurostat news releases on the Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat