Net sales of the information sector amounted to FIM 117 billion in 1995

The net sales of the Finnish information and communications industry as a whole amounted to nearly FIM 117 billion in 1995. The sector accounted for 12 per cent of the net sales of all enterprises and for 15 per cent of their combined employment. The number of companies in this sector, their net sales and employment figures increased very much faster than the average for the whole business sector during the period 1993-1995. The data are based on Statistics Finland's latest publication Information on the Information Society.

The value of the output of operations related to the production, processing and distribution of information totalled approximately FIM 60 billion in 1994. Industrial information technology products accounted for 40 per cent of the total, and services and the content industry about 30 per cent each.

The output of industrial IT products in 1994 amounted to FIM 24 billion, having grown by an average of 44 per cent per year in 1992- 1994, during which time the output of other industrial products had increased by about 5 per cent per year. The most successful group of IT products in 1991-1994 was communications hardware; the output value of which grew over five-fold during that period, to reach FIM 14.5 billion in 1994.

Exports of IT products have grown much faster than imports during the 1990's, so that the balance of foreign trade became favourable in 1993 and a surplus of some FIM 2.5 billion was recorded in 1995. IT products accounted for 13 per cent of Finland's total exports in 1995 and 16 per cent of all imports. The only other EU countries to have a favourable balance of foreign trade in this sector were the Netherlands and Ireland.

The information sector employing more and more people

The information sector employed a total of 183 000 people in 1995, and its core industries accounted for one third of the growth in the whole employed labour force in 1994-1995. Roughly a half of the new jobs in manufacturing were generated in the information sector.

44 per cent of the employed labour force in 1995 were working in occupations connected with information.

Finland spearheads technical development of the information society

The price of local calls in Finland is the fourth cheapest in the EU countries, and Finland has the most Internet interfaces in the world per head of population, i.e. 56 per 1000 inhabitants. The number of users doubled in 1996. Similarly, Finland has the greatest number of mobile phones in the world per capita, nearly 30 subscribers per 100 inhabitants.

Information on the Information Society is the first publication on this topic to be produced by Statistics Finland. It comprises key statistics describing the development of the information society in Finland together with comparison data from other countries. This publication provides comprehensive material on phenomena typical of the information society and examines its nature and development from various angles.

Source: Information on the Information Society. For further information, please contact Ms Lea Parjo, tel. +358-9-1734 3521