Figure 6.1 shows trends in territorial greenhouse gas emissions, gross value added at constant (2023) prices, and employment numbers for the Information & Communications sector from 2011 to 2023. Compared with 2011, in 2023 GVA had risen by 438%, employment was up 95%, and emissions had increased by 237%. Emissions from fossil fuels used to generate electricity were assigned to the final consumer in this release.
Figure 6.2 shows the Information & Communications sector share of total emissions, GVA, and employment. In 2023, emissions from the sector were 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions, compared with 1% in 2011. The share of GVA went from 9% in 2011 to 20% in 2023. The employment share was 5% in 2011 and 6.5% in 2023.
Table 6.1 shows data on levels of greenhouse gas emissions, GVA, and employment numbers for the Information & Communications sector from 2011 to 2023, as well as the share of total emissions, GVA and employment. In 2023, emissions were 1.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (down from 2.1 million in 2022), GVA was €101 billion (up from €90 billion in constant prices in 2022), and employment in the sector was around 174,588 persons (up from 168,401 in 2022).
| Year | Greenhouse gas emissions | GVA (constant prices) | Employment (Persons) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2012 | 104.003749988312 | 101.0850983613 | 105.158405784248 |
| 2013 | 104.125352472051 | 111.69202655833 | 107.227622491066 |
| 2014 | 136.530227794278 | 125.892887304031 | 109.723205606296 |
| 2015 | 166.818327396794 | 145.753215714932 | 114.088898008217 |
| 2016 | 196.771192248173 | 158.949734077382 | 121.327170022783 |
| 2017 | 202.452797106708 | 202.450474191564 | 129.619109035828 |
| 2018 | 203.026793436682 | 252.187506908742 | 132.646724515936 |
| 2019 | 216.330313791376 | 302.884409205013 | 139.483531994746 |
| 2020 | 244.476563472983 | 360.912653398437 | 149.443269715356 |
| 2021 | 346.337441628577 | 446.496647553819 | 171.245834183154 |
| 2022 | 393.893231230333 | 478.541150865 | 188.122712573304 |
| 2023 | 337.348583837656 | 538.293770671293 | 195.03384831744 |
| Share of emissions | Share of GVA | Share of employment | |
| 2011 | 0.9 | 9.04307008541675 | 4.7 |
| 2012 | 1 | 9.76291398133733 | 5 |
| 2013 | 1 | 10.1714203809647 | 5 |
| 2014 | 1.3 | 10.4616425702868 | 5 |
| 2015 | 1.5 | 9.20470884028814 | 5 |
| 2016 | 1.7 | 9.87478264835006 | 5.1 |
| 2017 | 1.8 | 11.1870856864509 | 5.3 |
| 2018 | 1.8 | 12.7237847184195 | 5.2 |
| 2019 | 2 | 14.9141495965917 | 5.3 |
| 2020 | 2.3 | 17.1611773744653 | 5.9 |
| 2021 | 3.1 | 18.8311993679634 | 6.3 |
| 2022 | 3.6 | 17.6659785362613 | 6.5 |
| 2023 | 3.3 | 20.2698598956368 | 6.5 |
Figure 6.3 shows sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the Information & Communications sector in 2023. Emissions from fossil fuels used to generate electricity were assigned to the final consumer in this release. Electricity consumption was the source of 97% of emissions in 2023, up from 88% in 2011. Table 6.2 shows the share of the main emissions sources each year from 2011 to 2023.
| 2011 share | 2023 share | |
| Electricity consumption | 87.9 | 96.6 |
| Fuel combustion (stationary) | 6.2 | 1.5 |
| Road transport fuels | 5.8 | 2 |
Figure 6.4 and Table 6.3 show energy use in the Information & Communications sector, based on CSO Business Energy Use survey data. Energy use in the sector rose by 466% between 2011 and 2023, as electricity consumption increased from 89 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) to 639 ktoe.
| 2011 | 2023 | |
| Electricity | 89 | 639 |
| Fossil fuels (non-transport) | 20 | 12 |
| Transport fuels | 7 | 5 |
Figure 6.5 and Table 6.4 show data centre electricity consumption from 2015 to 2023. The share of total metered electricity consumption accounted for by data centres rose from 5% in 2015 to 21% in 2023.
| % Consumption by Data Centres | |
| 2015 | 5 |
| 2016 | 6 |
| 2017 | 7 |
| 2018 | 8 |
| 2019 | 9 |
| 2020 | 11 |
| 2021 | 14 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 21 |
Figure 6.6 and Table 6.5 show shares of uses of Information & Communications sector products. Most of the value of outputs from this sector was in exports, at 82% of the total of €239 billion in 2021.
| Use of Information & Communications sector products | |
| Information & Communications sector | 10 |
| Households | 2 |
| Exports | 82 |
| Other uses | 6 |
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