Home > Statistics > Innovation > 2016 > Innovation activity more widespread than before among enterprises in 2014 to 2016

Published: 12 April 2018

Innovation activity more widespread than before among enterprises in 2014 to 2016

Enterprises reported innovation activity more frequently than before in 2014 to 2016. Altogether, 65 per cent of the surveyed enterprises had had innovation activity, while in earlier surveys, the corresponding share has been some 10 percentage points lower. These data derive from Statistics Finland's survey that examined the generality and characteristics of enterprises’ innovation activity. The survey is part of the EU survey made every two years.

Prevalence of innovation activity in manufacturing and services in 2006 to 2016, share of enterprises

In the most recent survey, innovation was reported on the whole more often than before, in both enterprises of different size categories and different innovation types, for example.

Forty-three per cent of the surveyed enterprises introduced new or significantly improved products to the market and in all, 58 per cent of the enterprises reported innovation activity related to products and processes, the share having risen by some 10 percentage points from the previous survey. The share of enterprises having reported organisational and marketing innovations also rose significantly from the previous survey, by good seven percentage points, and was now 46 per cent of all enterprises.

The expenditure of innovation activity remained in 2016 on level with previous surveys, at around EUR six billion. However, there was a change in the structure of expenditure from before, because as R&D expenditure decreased, growth in innovation investments and inputs in introducing products to the market increased clearly the share of other, non-R&D expenditure. EUR 4.3 billion of innovation expenditure were spent in manufacturing enterprises and EUR 1.7 billion in service activities.

In the survey, lack of skilled personnel emerged as the factor most commonly hampering innovation activity. Absence of own funding and high costs of innovation activity, as well as market factors, that is, hard competition and uncertain demand for innovations, are still challenges for innovations. Legislation can have a stimulating, disturbing or neutral effect on innovation activity. For example, for seven per cent of innovators, environmental legislation appeared as stimulating innovation activity, 11 per cent assessed data protection legislation to cause uncertainty in innovation activity, and similarly, 11 per cent felt product safety and consumer production legislation causes additional burden on developing new.

In addition to innovation cooperation, the survey studied the cooperation of enterprises and universities and its results more widely. Around one-fifth of enterprises reported cooperation with universities in 2014 to 2016. The share of those having reported cooperation was bigger in manufacturing than in services and in most industries, it was mostly cooperation related specifically to innovation activity. Of the results of the mentioned university cooperation, enterprises thought most important were strengthening of knowledge base and competence, overviews of future development trends and markets, introduction of new technologies, methods or devices, and development of new and improved products.

Source: Innovation 2016, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Mervi Niemi 029 551 3263, Heidi Pirkola 029 551 3246, tiede.teknologia@stat.fi

Director in charge: Sami Saarikivi

Publication in pdf-format (974.7 kB)

Reviews

• 1. About the Innovation Survey (12.4.2018)
• 2. Prevalence of innovation activity in enterprises (12.4.2018)
• 3. Innovation activity related to products and processes (12.4.2018)
• 4. Implementation of marketing and organisational innovations (12.4.2018)
• 5. Factors hampering innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• 6. Effect of legislation and regulations on innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• 7. Enterprises strategies and innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• 8. Big data and open data in the public sector in enterprises business activity (12.4.2018)
• 9. Digitalisation in enterprises' business activity (12.4.2018)
• 10. Cooperation between enterprises and universities and working together (12.4.2018)

Tables

Tables in databases

Pick the data you need into tables, view the data as graphs, or download the data for your use.

• Database tables and their variables
• Archived tables

Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Prevalence of innovation activity by size category of personnel, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 2. Prevalence of innovation activity by industry, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 3. Prevalence of innovation activity relating to products or processes by enterprise's geographic markets 2014-2016, share of enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 4. Prevalence of marketing and organisational innovations by enterprise's geographic markets 2014-2016, share of enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 5. Developers of goods innovations by size category of personnel, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with goods innovations (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 6. Developers of goods innovations by industry, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with goods innovations (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 7. Developers of service innovations by size category of personnel, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with service innovations (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 8. Developers of service innovations by industry, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with service innovations (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 9. Proportion of product innovations and unchanged products of turnover by size category of personnel, 2016, proportions of the total turnover of all enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 10. Proportion of product innovations and unchanged products of turnover by industry, 2016, proportions of the total turnover of all enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 11. Developers of process innovations by size category of personnel, 2014-2016, share of enterprises with process innovations (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 12. Developers of process innovations by industry 2014-2016, share of enterprises with process innovations (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 13. Sources of information for innovation activities relating to products or processes 2014 - 2016, importance of sources, share of enterprises with innovation activity relating to products or processes (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 14. Co-operation in innovation activity by location of co-operating partner 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 15. Cooperation for innovation activities by co-operation partner and size category of personnel, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with innovation activity relating to products and processes (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 16. Cooperation for innovation activities by co-operation partner and industry, 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with innovation activity relating to products and processes (N=4945) (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 17. Factors hampering innovation activities 2014-2016, importance of factors, share of enterprises with innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 18. Factors hampering innovation activities by size category of personnel 2014-2016, high or medium importance, share of enterprises with innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 19. Factors hampering innovation activities by industry 2014-2016, high or medium importance, share of enterprises with innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 20. Effects of legislation or regulation on innovation activities 2014 - 2016, share of enterprises with innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 21. Effects of legislation and regulations on innovation activities by industry 2014-2016, share of enterprises with innovation activity (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 22. Utilisation of big data and public sector open data in enterprises 2014-2016, importance of the use of data, share of enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 23. The importance of digitalisation for enterprise's business activity 2014-2016, share of enterprises (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 24. Results from cooperation with universities, realized or expected results by the end of 2018, importance of results, share of enterprises with cooperation with universities (12.4.2018)
• Appendix table 25. Changes in the forms and meaning of university cooperation in 2014-2016 compared to before, share of enterprises with cooperation with universities (12.4.2018)

---

Updated 12.4.2018