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International comparison:
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For more information on this release:
E-mail: barry.kelleher@cso.ie Barry Kelleher
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

2016

Enterprise use of social media, 2014 - 2016
    %
 Ireland 2014EU-28 20141Ireland 2015EU-28 2015Ireland 2016EU-28 2016
Use of any social media603664396745
Use of social networks583362366542   
Use of enterprise's blogs or microblogs271230133314
Use of multimedia content sharing tools191221132315
Use of wiki based knowledge sharing tools748585
1EU-28 excluding Belguim, Czech Republic and France. This question was optional in 2014.
Source: Eurostat.

Use of social media by Irish enterprises second highest in the EU in 2016

Figure 1: Use of social media by enterprises, 2015-2016
go to full release

In 2016, 67% 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 45%. The use of social media by enterprises nationally has risen steadily from 60% of enterprises in 2014 and 64% in 2015. 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 71%, while Poland had the lowest usage at 25%.

The primary method of using social media as a way of connecting with customers is the use of social networks, with 65% of Irish enterprises stating they used social networks such as Facebook. This compares with 62% and 58% of Irish enterprises using social networks in 2015 and 2014 respectively. Comparable data from Eurostat shows that the use of social networks by EU-28 enterprises increased from 33% in 2014 to 36% in 2015 to 42% in 2016. Irish enterprises increased their usage of blogs or microblogs such as Twitter with 33% of enterprises using this method in 2016 compared with 30% in 2015 and 27% in 2014. The use of multimedia content sharing websites such as YouTube increased from 19% of enterprises in 2014 to 23% of enterprises in 2016. See Headline Table, Figure 1 and Table 1.

20152016
Enterprise purchase of
any cloud computing services
3536
00
Storage of files2527
E-mail2326
Office Software1518
Hosting the enterprise's databases1417
Finance or accounting software applications1013
Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) software
911
Computing power to run the
enterprise's own software
68

Purchase of cloud computing services by Irish enterprises increases

In 2016, 36% of Irish enterprises employing 10 or more persons purchased cloud computing services compared to 35% in 2015. This compared with an EU-28 average of 21% in 2016. Finland had the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU purchasing cloud computing services at 57%, while both Bulgaria and Romania had the lowest take up rate at 7%. The most popular cloud computing service purchased by Irish enterprises in 2016 was the storage of files at 27%, while 26% of Irish enterprises purchased e-mail services. See Figure 2 and Tables 2(a) and 2(b).

Ireland EU-28
Any paid internet advertising3425
00
Based on webpage content or
keywords searched by users
2719
Based on tracking internet users'
past activities or profile
137
Based on the geolocation
of internet users
157
Any other targeted advertising method n.e.c.169

 

Irish enterprises ranked 4th in the EU when paying for Internet advertising

34% of Irish enterprises reported to have paid to advertise on the Internet in 2016, such as on search engines, social media and other websites. The EU-28 average was 25%. Malta topped the ranking with 46% of enterprises paying for online advertising, while Romania recorded the lowest at 12%. The most popular advertising method was based on webpage content or keywords searched by users, with 27% paying for this method. 15% opted for advertising based on the geolocation of internet users, with 13% based on tracking internet users' past activities or profile. 16% opted for other targeted advertising methods. See Figure 3 and Table 3.

Other salese-Commerce sales
Small (10 to 49)7723
Medium (50 to 249)7822
Large (250+)5446

Over half of large enterprises conduct their sales electronically

In 2016, 52% of large enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 46% of total sales of such enterprises. 26% of small enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 23% of all sales in this size class. 47% of medium sized enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 22% of their total sales. See Figure 4 and Table 4.

Other purchasese-Commerce purchases
Small (10 to 49)7723
Medium (50 to 249)8020
Large (250+)6238

70% of large enterprises made e-Commerce purchases in 2016

In 2016, 70% of large enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 38% of all purchases made by large enterprises, while 59% of medium sized enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 20% of total purchases for this size class. 43% of small enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which amounted to 23% of their total. See Figure 5 and Table 4.

% of enterprises with e-Commerce purchases% of enterprises with e-Commerce sales
Small (10 to 49)4326
Medium (50 to 249)5947
Large (250+)70.152

More enterprises engaged in e-Commerce purchases than sales

Across all employment size classes, the proportion of enterprises that have made e-Commerce purchases is higher than those enterprises who have made e-Commerce sales. Large enterprises had the greatest difference between e-Commerce purchases and sales. See Figure 6 and Table 4.

e-Commerce purchases as a percentage of total enterprisese-Commerce purchases as a percentage of total purchases
Manufacturing 4236
Construction 322
Selected services 4729

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

In 2016, Services sector enterprises reported that 47% of enterprises had made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 29% of total purchases in that sector. Comparable figures for Construction enterprises indicated that 32% of enterprises made e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 2% of total purchases in Construction. While 42% of Manufacturing enterprises reported making e-Commerce purchases which accounted for 36% of all purchases made by this category. See Figure 7 and Table 5.

e-Commerce sales as a percentage of total enterprisese-Commerce sales as a percentage of total turnover
Manufacturing 3631
Construction 111
Selected services 3138

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

31% of Services enterprises reported e-Commerce sales which accounted for 38% of total turnover for that sector. The Manufacturing sector reported 36% of enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 31% of all turnover generated in that sector. Just 11% of Construction enterprises made e-Commerce sales which accounted for 1% of total Construction turnover. See Figure 8 and Table 5.

Table 1 EU enterprises use of any social media , 2014 - 2016
 %
 201420152016
EU-28363945
Belgium:4553
Bulgaria283032
Czech Republic:2534
Denmark495664
Germany333847
Estonia283339
Ireland606467
Greece383744
Spain374044
France:3036
Croatia373842
Italy323739
Cyprus525764
Latvia192826
Lithuania364245
Luxembourg363949
Hungary262934 
Malta667271
Netherlands586365
Austria414250
Poland222225
Portugal393844
Romania222530
Slovenia394246
Slovakia293434
Finland465060
Sweden485358
United Kingdom445459
Source: Eurostat and CSO
: indicates no figure available
Table 2(a) Enterprise purchase of cloud computing services, 2014 - 2016
  %
  201420152016   
Purchase of any cloud computing services283536   
of which - Storage of files202527   
 e-mail162326   
 Office software101518   
 Hosting the enterprise's database(s)101417   
 Finance or accounting software applications71013   
 Customer Relationship Managemant (CRM) software6911   
 Computing power to run the enterprise's own software568   
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.
Table 2(b) EU enterprise purchase of cloud computing services, 2015 - 2016
 %
 20152016
EU-28:21
Belgium2528
Bulgaria57
Czech Republic:18
Denmark3742
Germany:16
Estonia:23
Ireland3536
Greece99
Spain1518
France:17
Croatia2223
Italy:22
Cyprus1315
Latvia88
Lithuania1617
Luxembourg:19
Hungary1112
Malta2528
Netherlands:35
Austria:17
Poland78
Portugal:18
Romania87
Slovenia1722
Slovakia2018
Finland5357
Sweden:48
United Kingdom:35
Source: Eurostat and CSO
: Data not available as question was optional in 2015
Table 3 Enterprise purchase of internet advertising, 2016
 Pay to advertiseBased on the webpages' contentBased on the tracking of internet Based on the geolocation Based on any other method
 on the internetor keywords searched by usersusers' past activities or profileof internet usersof targeted advertising
EU-282519779
Belgium24176712
Bulgaria1914446
Czech Republic3128888
Denmark4027121516
Germany 2823576
Estonia2418978
Ireland3427131516
Greece292481113
Spain23177710
France1815658
Croatia3017977
Italy1814456
Cyprus251712131
Latvia23196911
Lithuania332612814
Luxembourg27196710
Hungary1915566
Malta4634171930
Netherlands2925121215
Austria282110109
Poland2825779
Portugal1511458
Romania1210444
Slovenia2117665
Slovakia27166416
Finland3327141312
Sweden422610118
United Kingdom282071013
Source: Eurostat and CSO. Enterprises could purchase more than one type of advertising method, hence the sum of the different types does not equal the total figure.
Table 4 ICT usage by size of enterprise, 2016
 Small (10 to 49)Medium (50 to 249)Large (250+)
 %%%
Enterprises with e-Commerce sales 264752
e-Commerce sales as a % of total sales232246
    
Enterprises with e-Commerce purchases435970
e-Commerce purchases as a % of total purchases 232038
    
Enterprises using broadband 989898
Enterprises using mobile broadband connection 667792
Table 5 Purchases and sales via e-Commerce, 2014 - 2016
 %
    Manufacturing sectors Construction sector Selected services sectors Total
    201420152016 201420152016 201420152016 201420152016
Use of e-Commerce for purchases (as % of total enterprises)     
 by internet or EDI 404042 453232 484947 474746
                  
Use of e-Commerce for sales (as % of total enterprises)               
by internet or EDI  333236 5911 273431 273230
by internet 171621 477 232827 222525
by EDI 262427 425 171314 181415
                  
Percentage of purchases by e-Commerce (as % of total purchases)               
by internet or EDI 243336 732 273029 263130
                  
Percentage of sales by e-Commerce (as % of total turnover)               
by internet or EDI 293631 101 354038 323836
by internet 475 000 162021 111515
 by EDI 253027 100 191918 212320
                  
Table 6 Purchases and sales via e-Commerce by sector, 2016
                   %
  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 3551384942 32 523837634351444746
Use of e-Commerce for sales (as % of total enterprises)                  
by internet or EDI  4037263636 11 322938321016253130
by internet 2223142421 7 28243726612192725
by EDI  3130182727 5 1614121759141415
Percentage of purchases by e-Commerce (as % of total purchases)                  
by internet or EDI  2248113636 2 29141929750152930
Percentage of sales by e-Commerce (as % of total turnover)                  
by internet or EDI  371276231 1 2262206134793836
by internet 323115 0 940133123962115
 by EDI  341045127 0 13227301831820
1 See Background notes for NACE Rev.2 classification.
Table 7 Purchases via e-Commerce by enterprises, EU-28, 2014 - 2016
   %
 201420152016
EU-28384042
Belgium324340
Bulgaria111311
Czech Republic545662
Denmark72::
Germany4654:
Estonia322325
Ireland474746
Greece141115
Spain282632
France254355 
Croatia:2223
Italy403841
Cyprus152243
Latvia323541
Lithuania252726
Luxembourg503242
Hungary303137
Malta2426:
Netherlands554752
Austria676866
Poland242135
Portugal252327
Romania:1414
Slovenia262829
Slovakia212225
Finland5151:
Sweden454437
United Kingdom515154
Source: Eurostat
: indicates no figure available
Table 8 Sales via e-Commerce by enterprises, EU-28, 2014 - 2016
   %
 201420152016
EU-28181920
Belgium242626
Bulgaria999
Czech Republic282527
Denmark282729
Germany252728
Estonia141518
Ireland273230  
Greece10712
Spain181821
France152121
Croatia272019
Italy81011
Cyprus121113
Latvia91010
Lithuania191920
Luxembourg131015
Hungary131415
Malta191923
Netherlands242525
Austria171819
Poland121212
Portugal152019
Romania887
Slovenia182220
Slovakia151515
Finland191922
Sweden262828
United Kingdom222322
Source: Eurostat
: indicates figure not available
Table 9 General findings of enterprise ICT survey, as a percentage of all enterprises, 2015 - 2016    
         %
 Manufacturing sectorsConstruction sectorSelected services sectorsTotal
20152016201520162015201620152016
General information about ICT systems        
 Using a computer991001009997999899
Use of the internet        
 Using the internet9810010010097999799
 Have a website or homepage8491768274747576
Purposes of using the internet (as provider)        
 Facilitating access to catalogues or price lists3842171939383737
 Facilitating access to online ordering or reservations11164527282426
 Facilitating access to online job applications2225181529292828
Table 10 General findings of enterprise ICT survey, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2016
                 %
  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 10010010099100999997100999699969999
Use of the internet                
Using the internet 10010010099100100999799999699979999
Have a website or homepage 899493899182677170938188857476
Purposes of using the internet (as provider)                
Facilitating access to catalogues or price lists 444428474219432447373617243838
Facilitating access to online ordering or reservations 231561416527274326109192826
Facilitating access to online job applications 183918322515211821714246442928
1 See Background notes for NACE Rev.2 classification  
Table 11 External connection to the internet, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2015 - 2016
           %
    Manufacturing sectors Construction sector Selected services sectors Total
    20152016 20152016 20152016 20152016
               
Type of external connection to the internet           
 Broadband 9897 10099 9798 9798
 Mobile broadband connection7373 7575 6867 6968
               
Enterprises with broadband           
 Purchases by internet or EDI4142 3232 5148 4947
 Sales by internet or EDI3336 911 3431 3331
               
               
Table 12 External connection to the internet, as a percentage of all enterprises, by sector, 2016
                  %
   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 9696999797 99999795999699979898
      Mobile broadband connection7374667873 75606460818685846768
Enterprises with broadband
      Purchases by internet or EDI 3551384942 32523938634551464847
      Sales by internet or EDI 4038263636 11323040331016253131
1See Background notes for NACE Rev.2 classification.

Background Notes

Background Notes 2016

Introduction

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

Summary of survey methodology

The Survey on e-Commerce and ICT 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 2016 response rate is 41.1%. 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 2016 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)

Professional, scientific and technical activities (selected sectors)

Section N (77-82)

Administrative and Support Service activities

Group ( 95.1)

Repair of computers 

 

Results

Results are based on the survey of Survey on e-Commerce and ICT by an enterprise, which was conducted in the first half of 2016. This survey covers enterprises with 10 or more persons engaged in the manufacturing, construction and selected services sectors.

Eurostat tables

The Survey on e-Commerce and ICT usage is carried out across all member countries of the EU28. 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 EU28 are available online at

INSERT Link to Eurostat 2016 release

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

 

Member states of the EU28

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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