Information technology products account for over 20 per cent of all goods exports

In September 1998, two out of three Finns aged between 15 and 74 had the opportunity to use a PC at work, school or home, and as many as 42 per cent were able to use the Internet. At the beginning of 1999, more than one Finn in two had a mobile telephone. In autumn 1997, two out of three Finnish employees used a computer in their work. The information is derived from Statistics Finland's fresh publication entitled On the Road to the Finnish Information Society II.

In 1997, the turnover of enterprises in the information sector totalled over FIM 130 billion, and represented 11 per cent of the total turnover of all enterprises. In 1998, the value of the exports of industrial products typical of the information society amounted to over FIM 46 billion, in other words over 20 per cent of all Finnish goods exports. In 1997, communications equipment alone accounted for 7.4 per cent of the total value of Finnish manufacturing output.

Out now: On the Road to the Finnish Information Society II

On the Road to the Finnish Information Society II is Statistics Finland's second compilation publication on the information society. It is a collection of the main statistics describing the development of the information society in Finland, and comparative data from other countries. The publication describes from the information society perspective the development of enterprise activity, industrial output, foreign trade, employment and equipment stocks in the 1990s.

Source: On the Road to the Finnish Information Society II and On the Road to the Finnish Information Society. Statistics Finland.

A synopsis of the publication is available on the Internet at: http://www.stat.fi/tk/yr/tttietoti_en.html