Statistics Explained

Archive:Telecommunications services statistics - NACE Rev. 2

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This article presents an overview of statistics for the telecommunications services sector in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 61. It belongs to a set of statistical articles on 'Business economy by sector'

Table 1: Key indicators, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Figure 1: Sectoral analysis of telecommunications (NACE Division 61), EU-28, 2012 (¹)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2a: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 2b: Sectoral analysis of key indicators, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 3: Largest and most specialised Member States in telecommunications (NACE Division 61), EU-28, 2012 (¹) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4a: Key indicators, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 4b: Key indicators, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
Table 5: Key size class indicators, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), EU-28, 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Figure 2: Relative importance of enterprise size classes, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), EU-28, 2012 (¹)
(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6a: Employment by enterprise size class, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
Table 6b: Value added by enterprise size class, telecommunications (NACE Division 61), 2012 - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)

Main statistical findings

Structural profile

There were 43.1 thousand enterprises operating within the telecommunications services (Division 61) sector in the EU-28 in 2012. Together they employed about one million persons, equivalent to 0.7 % of the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) workforce, or one in six (16.8 %) of those employed in information and communication services (Section J). The EU-28 telecommunications services sector generated EUR 169 billion of value added in 2012, which was 2.7 % of the non-financial business economy total and almost one third (32.7 %) of the information and communication services total.

As such, with a considerably higher share of value added than employment, the telecommunications services sector had apparent labour productivity that was well above average. EU-28 productivity (using this measure) was EUR 165.0 thousand of value added per person employed in 2012, which was 3.6 times as high as the non-financial business economy average of EUR 46.2 thousand per person employed and almost double the information and communication services average of EUR 87.0 thousand per person employed. When ranking all of the NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy, telecommunications services had the sixth highest level of apparent labour productivity in 2012.

Average personnel costs for the EU-28 telecommunications services sector were, at EUR 53.8 thousand per employee, less elevated than apparent labour productivity — some two thirds higher than the non-financial business economy average of EUR 32.4 thousand per employee. Average personnel costs per employee for the telecommunications services sector were only EUR 2.1 thousand per employee higher than the average for the whole of information and communication services.

As a result, the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio (which combines the two previous indicators and shows the extent to which value added per person employed covers average personnel costs per employee) stood at 310.0 % for the EU-28 telecommunications services sector in 2012. This was again the sixth highest level of wage-adjusted labour productivity among the NACE divisions that compose the non-financial business economy and well above the information and communication services average of 168.0 % or the non-financial business economy average of 142.7 %.

The gross operating rate (the relation between the gross operating surplus and turnover) is one measure of operating profitability; it stood at 28.6 % for the EU-28’s telecommunications services sector in 2012, which was more than three times as high as the non-financial business economy average (9.4 %) and some 8.3 percentage points above the information and communication services average (20.3 %). As such, the telecommunication services sector recorded the seventh highest level of profitability (using this measure) among the NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy.

Sectoral analysis

More than half of all the enterprises that were active within the EU-28’s telecommunications services sector in 2012 were classified in the residual grouping of other telecommunications activities (Group 61.9), some 25.2 enterprises or 58.4 % of the telecommunications services total. The next largest subsector (in terms of numbers of enterprises) was that of wired telecommunications activities (Group 61.1), for which there were 11.0 thousand enterprises across the EU-28 in 2012. This was almost twice as many as the number of enterprises whose principal activity was wireless telecommunications (6.1 thousand, Group 61.2), while there were relatively few enterprises operating with their principal activity in satellite telecommunications (approximately 800, Group 61.3).

The relative weight of these four subsectors was somewhat different in terms of employment. Wired telecommunications activities were the main employer, with a 47.0 % share of the EU-28’s telecommunications services workforce. Nearly 3 out of every 10 persons employed within the EU-28’s telecommunications services workforce were working in other telecommunications activities, while more than one in five persons were employed within wireless telecommunications activities.

Wireless telecommunications activities had a far higher share of value added (29.1 %) within the EU-28’s telecommunications services sector in 2012. This was still well behind the value added generated by wired telecommunications activities (46.0 %), but somewhat higher than the corresponding figure for other telecommunications activities (23.5 %).

The EU-28 recorded apparent labour productivity in excess of EUR 100 thousand per person employed in all three of the subsectors for which data are available (no information for satellite communications). Wireless telecommunications activities had the highest level of apparent labour productivity, EUR 223.0 thousand per person employed in 2012, while the ratio for wired telecommunications activities was EUR 156.0 thousand per person employed in 2011, followed by that for other telecommunications activities (EUR 138.0 thousand per person employed in 2012).

Average personnel costs for the subsector of wireless telecommunications activities (EUR 51.5 thousand per employee) were close to the EU-28 information and communication sector average in 2012. While average personnel costs for wired and other telecommunications activities were somewhat higher — EUR 56.5 thousand in 2011 and EUR 60 thousand in 2012, respectively — the lowest personnel costs per employee were recorded for the satellite telecommunications activities (EUR 41.1 thousand).

As average personnel costs were proportionally not as high as apparent labour productivity in 2012, the resulting wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios for the three EU-28 telecommunications subsectors for which data are available were all well above the information and communication sector average (168.0 %). Wireless telecommunications activities had a very high wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio, at 433.0 %. As such, wireless telecommunications activities recorded the second highest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio among the NACE groups that form the non-financial business economy in 2012. The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for wired telecommunications activities (300.0 %) meant that it ranked as the tenth highest NACE group in 2012 within the non-financial business economy. Wage-adjusted labour productivity was somewhat lower for other telecommunications activities (230.0 %).

The EU-28’s telecommunications services subsectors also consistently recorded high gross operating rates. These peaked in 2012 at 33.7 % for wired telecommunications activities, 5.3 percentage points above the rate that was registered for wireless telecommunications activities (28.4 %), As such, both of these subsectors were among the top 15 NACE groups in the non-financial business economy with the highest levels of profitability (using this measure).

Country analysis

The United Kingdom had the largest telecommunications services sector among the EU Member States in 2012 (18.8 % of EU-28 value added or EUR 31.8 billion), in large part due to a 76.1 % share of the added value generated within the EU-28’s other telecommunications activities subsector. Indeed, Germany reported the highest level of value added for wired telecommunications activities (EUR 13.8 billion), while France recorded the highest level for the two remaining subsectors — EUR 10.1 billion of value added for wireless telecommunication activities and EUR 1.7 billion of value added for the relatively small activity of satellite telecommunications services.

The highest contribution by far made by the telecommunications services sector to the non-financial business economy in value added terms was observed in Luxembourg, where this sector contributed 8.4 % of total added value in 2012. A pattern of relatively high shares across many of the EU Member States that joined the EU in 2004 or later can be observed, as the next highest shares were recorded in Croatia, Cyprus and Bulgaria, where the telecommunications services sector provided at least 4.0 % of non-financial business economy value added in 2012; this was also true for Greece. At the other end of the range, the least specialised Member States in the telecommunications services included Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Finland, Germany and Austria, where this activity generated no more than 2.5 % of value added within the whole of the non-financial business economy; the same applied to Norway and Switzerland.

The highest apparent labour productivity ratios for the telecommunications services sector in 2012 were recorded for Luxembourg (EUR 352.4 thousand per person employed) and the Netherlands (EUR 260.5 thousand per person employed), while Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy also reported productivity ratios of more than EUR 200.0 thousand per person employed; as did Norway and Switzerland among the non-member countries. In Portugal, the apparent labour productivity of the telecommunications sector was 7.9 times as high as the national non-financial business economy average, at EUR 177.8 thousand per person employed. In Spain the same ratio showed that productivity within the telecommunications services sector was 5.7 times as high as the Spanish non-financial business economy average, while productivity was at least double the non-financial business economy in each of the remaining EU Member States for which data are available; the only exception was Denmark, where the lowest relative productivity of the telecommunications services sector was recorded (1.7 times as high as the national non-financial business economy average). The wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of the telecommunications services sector peaked in 2012 in Poland at 449.1 %, followed by Luxembourg (447.9 %), while Portugal and the Netherlands also reported ratios of more than 400 %. These values were considerably higher than the respective national averages recorded for the whole of the non-financial business economy. Indeed, in Portugal and Italy, the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio of the telecommunications services sector was more than 3.0 times as high as the non-financial business economy average. In Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio in the telecommunications services sector was the second highest in 2012 among any of the NACE divisions within the non-financial business economy, while the telecommunications services sector recorded the third highest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio in Spain, France, , and Slovakia. The lowest wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for the telecommunications services sector was recorded in Austria (207.2 %), where the ratio was nevertheless 43 % higher than the non-financial business economy average.

A similar pattern was observed for the gross operating rate, as comparatively high profitability rates were consistently recorded across all of the EU Member States for which data are available. These peaked in 2012 at 39.5 % for the Polish telecommunications services sector, followed by 37.4 % in Croatia. These values marked the third highest gross operating rate within the Polish non-financial business economy (at the NACE division level), and the second highest rate in the Croatian non-financial business economy. The lowest gross operating ratio in this sector was recorded in Greece (18.2 %), although this figure was almost twice as high as the non-financial business economy average in Greece (9.5 %).

Size class analysis

The relative importance of large enterprises (employing 250 or more persons) within the EU-28’s telecommunications services sector in 2012 was considerable. There were 315 large enterprises with telecommunications services as their principal activity and together they employed 81.3 % of the sectoral workforce. The relative weight of large enterprises was even greater in relation to value added (88.8 % of the sectoral total). Large enterprises also recorded the highest level of apparent labour productivity within the telecommunications services sector, at EUR 184.5 thousand of value added per person employed. This was about 3.4 times as high as the apparent labour productivity of micro enterprises (in 2011) and about 1.6 times as high as that of medium-sized enterprises (in 2012).

Large enterprises accounted for between 70 % and 90 % of the telecommunications services workforce in 2012 in the majority of the EU Member States for which data are available. The highest shares were recorded in Greece, France, Italy and Austria, where over 85 % of the sectoral workforce was employed by a large enterprise. By contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Lithuania and Latvia, which reported that about half of their telecommunications services workforce was employed by large enterprises; Romania, Poland and Estonia were the only other EU Member States which reported shares that were lower than 70 %, which was also the case in Norway (58.7 %).

Large enterprises within the telecommunications services sector in 2012 accounted for between 80 % and 95 % of sectoral value added in the majority of the EU Member States for which data are available. This share rose to highs of 95.3 % in Greece and 95.1 % in Italy, while large enterprises accounted for a lower proportion of sectoral value added in Estonia (71.4 %) and Lithuania (68.8 %).

Data sources and availability

The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS) and size class data, all of which are published annually.

The main series provides information for each EU Member State as well as a number of non-member countries at a detailed level according to the activity classification NACE. Data are available for a wide range of variables.

In structural business statistics, size classes are generally defined by the number of persons employed. A limited set of the standard structural business statistics variables (for example, the number of enterprises, turnover, persons employed and value added) are analysed by size class, mostly down to the three-digit (group) level of NACE. The main size classes used in this article for presenting the results are:

  • small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): with 1 to 249 persons employed, further divided into;
    • micro enterprises: with less than 10 persons employed;
    • small enterprises: with 10 to 49 persons employed;
    • medium-sized enterprises: with 50 to 249 persons employed;
  • large enterprises: with 250 or more persons employed.

Context

This article presents an overview of statistics for the telecommunications services sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 61. This division includes the activities of providing telecommunications and related service activities, such as transmitting voice, data, text, sound and video. The transmission facilities that carry out these activities may be based on a single technology or a combination of technologies. The commonality of activities classified in this division is the transmission of content, without being involved in its creation. The breakdown in this division is based on the type of infrastructure that is being operated. In the case of the transmission of television signals this may include the bundling of complete programming channels (produced by units classified to Division 60, programming and broadcasting activities) in to programme packages for distribution.

Wired, wireless and satellite telecommunications activities include operating and maintaining switching and transmission facilities to provide communications; these activities also include the provision of internet access. For wired technology, telecommunications are provided point to point via landlines, microwave, or a combination of landlines and satellite linkups; wired telecommunications includes the operation of cable distribution systems (for example, the distribution of data and television signals), as well as furnishing telegraph and other non-vocal communications using own facilities. For wireless telecommunications omni-directional transmission via airwaves is provided and these services may be based on a single technology or a combination of technologies. Activities of maintaining and operating paging as well as cellular and other wireless telecommunications networks are also included. Satellite telecommunications activities use satellite infrastructure: this includes the delivery of visual, aural or textual programming received from television channels, television stations and networks, or radio networks to consumers via direct-to-home satellite systems.

Other telecommunications activities include the provision of specialised telecommunications applications, such as satellite tracking, communications telemetry, and radar station operations, as well as the operation of satellite terminal stations and associated facilities operationally connected with one or more terrestrial communications systems and capable of transmitting telecommunications to or receiving telecommunications from satellite systems. The provision of internet access over networks between the client and the ISP not owned or controlled by the ISP, such as dial-up internet access are included, as well as the provision of telephone and internet access in facilities open to the public, voice over internet protocol provision and telecommunications resellers (in other words, purchasing and reselling network capacity without providing additional services).

This NACE division is composed of four groups:

  • wired telecommunications activities (Group 61.1);
  • wireless telecommunications activities (Group 61.2);
  • satellite telecommunications activities (Group 61.3);
  • other telecommunications activities (Group 61.9).

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

SBS – services (sbs_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics - services (sbs_na_serv)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_na_1a_se_r2)
SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics by size class - services (sbs_sc_sc)
Services by employment size class (NACE Rev. 2 H-N and S95) (sbs_sc_1b_se_r2)
SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
SBS data by NUTS 2 regions and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008 onwards) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)

Dedicated section

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Other information

External links

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