UK leads the ICT way
Figures released by Eurostat, the European statistical office, show that in 1999, one third of ICT (information communication technologies) service sector companies were based in the UK. In 1999, there were a total of 442,000 ICT companies in the European Union, 143,100 of which were in the UK. The next largest ICT business populations were in Italy, Germany and France with 20 per cent, 13 per cent and 11 per cent of the estimated EU total respectively. Employment in the ICT sector was about 4.5 million in 1999, of which two thirds was in the service sector. The ICT sector represented about 2.8 per cent of all employment in the EU and exceeded 4 per cent of the total in Ireland, Finland and Sweden. The EU's turnover in ICT sectors in 1999 was an estimated 990 billion euro, of which approximately 35 per cent was generated by ICT manufacturing. This was notably lower in Denmark and Belgium where it contributed less than 25 per cent, whilst in Finland it exceeded 50 per cent. Imports of ICT goods in 2001 amounted to 171 billion euro and exports 120 billion euro, resulting in a 51 billion euro trade deficit. This was over 20 per cent narrower than the deficit in 2000 and reversed a trend of increasing deficits. In 2001 only Ireland, Finland and Sweden among the EU Member States recorded a trade surplus in ICT goods; these are the same three Member States that recorded the highest share of employment in the ICT sectors. The largest exporters of ICT goods in absolute terms in 2001 were Germany and the United Kingdom. In relative terms ICT goods accounted for a large proportion of total trade in goods in Ireland and Luxembourg and also in the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom. ICT goods accounted for 12.3 per cent of all extra-EU exports in 2001 and for 16.8 per cent of all extra-EU imports.