Information Society Statistics Enterprises 2021

In 2021, four in ten (40%) enterprises in Ireland had e-commerce sales. An e-commerce sale is a sale conducted over computer networks via websites, apps or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) of goods or services. Large enterprises, those with 250 or persons engaged, had the highest proportion of enterprises with e-commerce sales at 63%. This compares with 53% of medium sized firms (50-249 persons engaged) and 36% of small businesses (10-49 persons engaged).

More than half (54%) of enterprises made purchases over computer networks in 2021. Three quarters (76%) of larger enterprises made e-commerce purchases in 2021 while 67% of medium sized firms and more than half (51%) of small businesses did so. See Figure 3.1 and Table 3.1.

Almost six in ten (57%) of Manufacturing enterprises made purchases by website, app or EDI in 2021, an increase from 51% in 2019. More than half (55%) of firms in Services made e-commerce purchases in 2021 while 46% of Construction companies made purchases.

Four in ten (40%) firms conducted sales by website, app or EDI in 2021. More than a third (34%) of enterprises made sales via the internet while 12% reported making sales by EDI. 

In the Manufacturing sector, more than half (51%) of firms conducted sales by internet or EDI, an increase from 46% in 2019 and 48% in 2020. Almost a third (32%) of enterprises in the sector made sales through the internet, an increase from 27% in 2019. A similar proportion (31%) indicated they made sales by EDI, however that is down from 34% in 2019.

More than four in ten (41%) Services firms conducted sales electronically in 2021, a slight increase from 39% in 2019. More than a third (36%) of business from the sector had sales via the internet. In 2021, 11% of business in Services conducted sales by EDI, down from 16% in 2020.

In the Construction sector in 2021, 16% of firms conducted sales through websites, apps or EDI, an increase from 10% in 2019. In 2021, 13% indicated they made sales via the internet, an increase from 7% the previous year while 4% made sales by EDI, a decrease from 7% on the previous year. See Figure 3.2 and Table 3.2.

A third (33%) of enterprises received orders via website or apps from customers located in Ireland in 2021. One in ten (10%) firms received orders online from customers located in the other countries in the European Union (EU) which in 2021 excluded the United Kingdom (UK). In 2021, 11% of enterprises indicated that they received orders from customers located in the rest of the world, which includes the UK.

More than a third (36%) of firms from the Services sector received online orders from customers located in Ireland while 11% and 12% received orders from customers located in other EU member states and from the rest of the world respectively. In the Manufacturing sector, 29% received online orders from Ireland, 11% received orders from the rest of the world and 9% received orders from the EU. In the Construction sector, 12% of firms received orders from websites or apps from Ireland in 2021 while 4% and 5% received orders from the EU and the rest of the world respectively. See Figure 3.3 and Table 3.3.