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For more information on this release:
E-mail: sbs_rap@cso.ie Kevin Phelan (+353) 21 453 5208 Barry Kelleher (+353) 21 453 5154 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

2015

Use of social media by enterprises, 2013 - 2015  
      %
 Ireland 2013EU-28 2013Ireland 2014EU-28 20141Ireland 2015EU-28 2015
       
Use of any social media483060366439
Use of social networks462858336236
Use of enterprise's blogs or microblogs201027123013
Use of multimedia content sharing tools141119122113
Use of wiki based knowledge sharing tools767485
       
Source: Eurostat. This survey covers enterprises employing 10 or more persons. 1EU-28 excluding Belgium, Czech Republic and France. This question was optional in 2014.

Use of social media by Irish enterprises second highest in the EU in 2015

Figure 1: Use of social media by enterprises, 2013 - 2015
go to full release

In 2015, 64% of Irish enterprises employing 10 or more people used some type of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube compared with an EU-28 average of 39%. The use of social media by enterprises nationally has risen from 48% of enterprises in 2013. In terms of enterprises using social media, Ireland ranked second in the EU-28. Malta had the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU-28 using social media at 72%, 54% of enterprises in the United Kingdom used social media, while Poland had the lowest usage at 22%. 

The primary method of using social media as a way of connecting with customers is the use of social networks, with 62% of Irish enterprises stating they used social networks such as Facebook. This compares with 58% and 46% of Irish enterprises using social networks in 2014 and 2013 respectively. Comparable data from Eurostat shows that the use of social networks by EU-28 enterprises increased from 28% in 2013 to 33% in 2014 and to 36% in 2015. Irish enterprises increased their usage of blogs or microblogs such as Twitter with 30% of enterprises using this method in 2015 compared with 27% in 2014 and 20% in 2013.  The use of multimedia content sharing websites such as YouTube increased from 14% of enterprises in 2013 to 21% of enterprises in 2015 with 19% of enterprises using these websites in 2014. See Headline Table, Table 1 and Figure 1.

 

Purchase of cloud computing services by Irish Enterprises continues to increase

In 2015, 35% of Irish enterprises employing 10 or more persons purchased cloud computing services compared to 28% in 2014. This compared with an EU-28 average of 19% in 2014. Data for 2015 for the EU-28 is not available as the question on cloud computing was optional however 17 member states provided data to Eurostat. Of these countries, Finland continues to have the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU purchasing cloud computing services at 53%, while Bulgaria had the lowest take up rate at 5%. The most popular cloud computing service purchased by Irish enterprises in 2015 was the storage of files at 25%, while 23% of Irish enterprises purchased e-mail services. See Figure 2 and Tables 2(a) and 2(b).

 

20142015
Purchase of any
cloud computing services		2834.6633012003873
Storage of files2025
e-mail1623
Office software1015
Hosting the enterprise's
database(s)		1014
Finance or accounting
software applications		710
Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) software		69
Computing power to run
the enterprise's own software		56

42% of Irish enterprises have a formally defined ICT security policy

Irish enterprises stated that they had an ICT security policy in 42% of cases in 2015. This policy addressed such issues as: the destruction or corruption of data, the disclosure of confidential data, and the unavailability of ICT services due to attack from outside.

Of the enterprises who stated that there was a policy in place, 71% stated that the policy had been defined or reviewed within the past 12 months. 19% of enterprises stated that the policy had been updated or defined in the past 13 to 24 months while for 10% of enterprises it was more than 24 months since the policy had been defined or updated.  See Figure 3 and Table 3.

Recent review
Within
12 months		70.6
Between
13 and 24
months		19.4
More than
24 months		9.9

Over half of large enterprises conduct their sales electronically

In 2015, 53% of large enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 50% of total sales of such enterprises. 28% of small enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 16% of all sales in this size class. 51% of medium sized enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 23% of their total sales. See Figure 4 and Table 4.

Other salese-Commerce sales
Small (10 to 49)8416
Medium (50 to 249)77.422.6
Large (250+)49.950.1

70% of large enterprises made e-Commerce purchases in 2015

In 2015, 70% of large enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 42% of all purchases made by large enterprises, while 58% of medium sized enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 20% of total purchases for this size class. 44% of small enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which amounted to 12% of their total. See Figure 5 and Table 4.

Other purchasese-Commerce purchases
Small (10 to 49)87.612.4
Medium (50 to 249)80.419.6
Large (250+)58.541.5

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 and Table 4.

% of enterprises with e-Commerce purchases% of enterprises with e-Commerce sales
Small (10 to 49)44.427.9
Medium (50 to 249)57.550.7
Large (250+)70.152.6

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

In 2015, Services sector enterprises reported that 49% of enterprises had made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 30% of total purchases in that sector. Comparable figures for Construction enterprises indicated that 32% of enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 3% of total purchases in Construction. While 40% of Manufacturing enterprises reported making e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 33% of all purchases made by this category. See Figure 7 and Table 5.

e-Commerce purchases as a percentage of total enterprisese-Commerce purchases as a percentage of total purchases
Manufacturing 4033
Construction 323
Selected services 4930

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

34% of Services enterprises reported e-Commerce sales which accounted for 40% of total turnover for that sector. The Manufacturing sector reported 32% of enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 36% of all turnover generated in that sector. Just 9% of Construction enterprises made e-Commerce sales which accounted for less than 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 5.

e-Commerce sales as a percentage of total enterprisese-Commerce sales as a percentage of total turnover
Manufacturing 3236
Construction 90
Selected services 3440
Table 1 EU enterprises use of any social media , 2014 - 2015
 %
 20142015
 
EU-283639
Belgium:45
Bulgaria2830
Czech Republic:25
Denmark4956
Germany3338
Estonia2833
Ireland6064
Greece3837
Spain3740
France:30
Croatia3738
Italy3237
Cyprus5257
Latvia1928
Lithuania3642
Luxembourg3639
Hungary2629 
Malta6672
Netherlands5863
Austria4142
Poland2222
Portugal3938
Romania2225
Slovenia3942
Slovakia2934
Finland4650
Sweden4853
United Kingdom4454
Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 1 (XLS 13KB)
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Table 2(a) Enterprise purchase of cloud computing services, 2014 - 2015
  %
  20142015
Purchase of any cloud computing services2835
of whichStorage of files2025
e-mail1623
 Office software1015
Hosting the enterprise's database(s)1014
 Finance or accounting software applications710
 Customer Relationship Managemant (CRM) software69
 Computing power to run the enterprise's own software56
    
This survey covers enterprises employing 10 or more persons. 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.
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 2(a) (XLS 11KB)
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Table 2(b) EU enterprises use of cloud computing services, 2014 - 2015
 %
 20142015
 
EU-2819:
Belgium2125
Bulgaria85
Czech Republic15:
Denmark3837
Germany11:
Estonia15:
Ireland2835
Greece89
Spain1415
France12:
Croatia2222
Italy40:
Cyprus1013
Latvia68
Lithuania1316
Luxembourg13:
Hungary811 
Malta1725
Netherlands28:
Austria12:
Poland67
Portugal13:
Romania58
Slovenia1517
Slovakia1920
Finland5153
Sweden39:
United Kingdom24:
Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database
: Data not available as question was optional in 2015
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 2(b) (XLS 13KB)
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Table 3 Percentage of all enterprises with an ICT security policy, 2015
     %
Enterprises with an ICT security policy 42
      
Timeframe of their most recent review1:  
   Within 12 months 71
   Between 13 and 24 months19
   More than 24 months 10
      
1Risk assessment, evaluation of ICT security incidents, etc
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 3 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 4 ICT usage by size of enterprise, 2015
 Small (10 to 49)Medium (50 to 249)Large (250+)
    
 %%%
Enterprises with e-Commerce sales 285153
e-Commerce sales as a % of total sales162350
    
Enterprises with e-Commerce purchases445870
e-Commerce purchases as a % of total purchases 122042
    
Enterprises using broadband 97100100
Enterprises using mobile broadband connection 658698
    
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 4 (XLS 13KB)
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Table 5 Purchases and sales via e-Commerce, 2013 - 2015
 %
    Manufacturing sectors Construction sector Selected services sectors Total
    201320142015 201320142015 201320142015 201320142015
               
Use of e-Commerce for purchases (as % of total enterprises)     
 by internet or EDI 444040 374532 474849 464747
               
Use of e-Commerce for sales (as % of total enterprises)            
by internet or EDI  323332 659 242734 242732
by internet 151716 447 192328 182225
by EDI 202624 442 101713 111814
               
Percentage of purchases by e-Commerce (as % of total purchases)            
by internet or EDI 322433 573 272730 292631
               
Percentage of sales by e-Commerce (as % of total turnover)            
by internet or EDI 272936 110 353540 313238
by internet 347 000 161620 111115
by EDI 242530 110 191919 202123
                   
                  
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 5 (XLS 34KB)
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Table 6 Purchases and sales via e-Commerce by sector, 2015
                   %
  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 3342355340 32 533341685950434947
                   
Use of e-Commerce for sales (as % of total enterprises)                  
by internet or EDI  3933213032 9 373438342018293432
by internet 1815131516 7 292736242012282825
by EDI  2927152124 2 14151314310101314
                   
Percentage of purchases by e-Commerce (as % of total purchases)                  
by internet or EDI  1343154233 3 25417491122153031
                 
Percentage of sales by e-Commerce (as % of total turnover)                  
by internet or EDI  234753636 0 21551875412154038
by internet 106257 0 1048133446102015
by EDI  134133130 0 1165410741923
                    
1 See Background notes for NACE Rev2 classification
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 6 (XLS 80KB)
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Table 7 Purchases via e-Commerce by enterprises, EU-28, 2013 - 2015
   %
 201320142015
EU-28373840
Belgium213243
Bulgaria61113
Czech Republic505456
Denmark7872:
Germany484654
Estonia143223
Ireland464747
Greece201411
Spain222826
France202543 
Croatia::22
Italy424038
Cyprus131522
Latvia223235
Lithuania222527
Luxembourg465050
Hungary283031
Malta212426
Netherlands525547
Austria606768
Poland212421
Portugal182523
Romania20:14
Slovenia302628
Slovakia272122
Finland475151
Sweden414544
United Kingdom605151
Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics 2015 Table 7 (XLS 77KB)
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Table 8 Sales via e-Commerce by enterprises, EU-28, 2013 - 2015
   %
 201320142015
EU-28171819
Belgium212426
Bulgaria799
Czech Republic272825
Denmark302827
Germany262527
Estonia131415
Ireland232732  
Greece10107
Spain141818
France141521
Croatia212720
Italy8810
Cyprus81211
Latvia10910
Lithuania221919
Luxembourg171310
Hungary131314
Malta181919
Netherlands222425
Austria161718
Poland111212
Portugal151520
Romania1088
Slovenia151822
Slovakia201515
Finland191919
Sweden262628
United Kingdom222223
Source: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/data/database
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 8 (XLS 78KB)
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Table 9 General findings of enterprise ICT survey, as a percentage of all enterprises, 2014 - 2015
    %
   Manufacturing sectorsConstruction sectorSelected services sectorsTotal
  20142015201420152014201520142015
            
General information about ICT systems        
Using a computer 100999910098979898
           
Use of the internet        
Using the internet 99989910097979897
Have a website or homepage8884767671747375
           
Purposes of using the internet (as provider)        
Facilitating access to catalogues and price lists4538191736393637
Facilitating access to online ordering16112427272424
Facilitating access to online applications2222271825292528
           
Electronic sharing        
Uses an ERP software package3738171422242325
Capture, store and make available information about clients2624111828302729
Analyse information about clients for marketing purposes2321101127292627
            
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 9 (XLS 80KB)
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Table 10 General findings of enterprise ICT survey, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2015
                 %
  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 10098999799100999894979798979798
                 
Use of the internet                
Using the internet 9996999798100989892979798979797
Have a website or homepage 838383858476677073929189817475
                 
Purposes of using the internet (as provider)                
Facilitating access to catalogues and price lists 363637413817432447374120303937
Facilitating access to online ordering 151231011428254020249202724
Facilitating access to online applications 173216302218222019714046412928
                 
Electronic sharing                
 Uses an ERP software package 316123453814311411461622192425
 Capture, store and make available information about clients213020272418311715603340353029
 Analyse information about clients for marketing purposes172217282111311620573330282927
                  
1 See Background notes for NACE Rev.2 classifications  
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 10 (XLS 80KB)
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Table 11 External connection to the internet, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2014 - 2015
           %
    Manufacturing sectors Construction sector Selected services sectors Total
    20142015 20142015 20142015 20142015
               
Type of external connection to the internet           
 Broadband 9898 97100 9597 9597
 Mobile broadband connection6873 7975 6168 6369
               
Enterprises with broadband           
 Using ERP1 software 3738 1714 2325 2426
 Using CRM2 software 2928 1418 3436 3234
               
 Purchases by internet or EDI3441 3432 4551 4349
 Sales by internet or EDI3033 39 2634 2533
               
1Enterprise Resource Planning    
2Customer Relationship Management    
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 11 (XLS 33KB)
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Table 12 External connection to the internet, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2015
                  %
   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 internet
      Broadband 9995999798 100989892989799979797
      Mobile broadband connection6485748073 75646862827780786869
                  
Enterprises with broadband
      Using ERP2 software  3163244738 14311512471622202526
      Using CRM3 software 2335233328 18371824663844383634
      Purchases by internet or EDI 3344355541 32543444696151455149
      Sales by internet or EDI 4034213133 9373441352018303433
                   
1See Background notes for NACE Rev2 classification
2Enterprise Resource Planning
3Customer Relationship Management
Open in Excel: Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2015 Table 12 (XLS 79KB)
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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 was conducted as a wholly electronic survey for the first time in 2013 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 2015 response rate is 46.7%. 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 EU28-wide basis in December each year. The results presented in this release are from the March 2015 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 an enterprise, which was conducted in the first half of 2015. 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 its 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 at 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7103896/4-09122015-AP-EN.pdf/d9bbdff9-fd31-4449-b5be-bb0ec974522e

 

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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Central Statistics Office
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Tel:
(+353) 21 453 5000
E-Mail:
information@cso.ie

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