The Finnish ICT sector is important for its size
The ICT sector is a significant industry in Finland. For example, the sector produces 6.74% of Finland’s GDP and employs approximately 121,000 people. This statistical review provides a summary of the data on the importance of the ICT sector in Finland.
Number of ICT companies: 9,653. Revenues: over EUR 32 billion
According to Statistics Finland’s Structural business and financial statement statistics, Finland had a total of 9,653 ICT companies in 2021. The majority – 87.6% – of ICT companies were small enterprises with fewer than ten employees. There were 134 companies with 100 or more employees, with the largest number being enterprises providing software, consulting and related activities (88 businesses) and companies manufacturing computers and electronic and optical devices (27 businesses). Ten companies had 1,000 or more employees.
ICT companies in Finland
Source: Statistics Finland
According to Statistics Finland’s Structural Business and Financial Statement Statistics, ICT companies earned revenues totalling EUR 36,210 million in 2021. Of this, 50.4% consisted of the manufacturing of computers and electronic and optical devices, 13.8% telecommunications, 31.2% software, consulting and related activities, and 4.6% information service activities.
Revenues of ICT companies in Finland, 2017–2021 (EUR million)
Source: Statistics Finland
ICT sector: 6.74% of Finland’s GDP
According to Statistics Finland’s preliminary Annual national accounts, the gross value added by the ICT sector in 2021 was EUR 14,695 million, or 6.74% of Finland’s GDP.
According to the preliminary data, the manufacturing of computers and electronic and optical products accounted for 2.30% of GDP in 2021, while telecommunications accounted for 1.06% and data processing services 3.38%.
ICT sector’s gross value added and share of GDP in Finland
Source: Statistics Finland
Finland’s share of ICT experts as a proportion of the labour force is the second-highest in the EU
According to Statistics Finland’s Labour force survey, the ICT sector employed 121,000 people in 2021. The number of employees increased by 3% year-on-year. The Labour Force Survey reveals how many people work in the ICT sector. The figure is an estimate based on the survey.
According to Eurostat, Finland’s share of ICT experts as a proportion of the labour force in 2021 was the second-highest in the EU at 7.4% of all employees. Only Sweden was ahead of Finland in the statistics, with a share of 8.0%. On average, 4.5% of all employees in EU countries were ICT experts.
Relative share of ICT specialists in the total workforce in EU countries in 2021
Source: Eurostat
The ICT sector accounts for 38.3% of all business sector R&D expenditure in Finland.
According to data from Statistics Finland, research and development expenditure in the ICT sector was EUR 1,973.4 million in 2021. This represents an increase of 8.7% since 2012. The ICT sector accounted for 38.3% of all business sector R&D expenditure.
Research and development expenditure in the ICT sector in Finland
Source: Statistics Finland
Finland the second-best EU country on the innovation scoreboard
The EU publishes an annual European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), which compares EU countries on 27 metrics. The report for 2022 was published in October 2022 with data from 2021.
Finland scored the second-highest number of points in the ranking. Read more about Finland’s country profile here. Accompanying Finland at the top of the scoreboard were Sweden in first place, Denmark in third, the Netherlands in fourth, and Belgium in fifth. All of these countries scored more than 125% of the EU average.
Innovation activities have developed in almost every EU country since 2015. However, there was a geographical divide in innovation. The best-performing countries were again in Northern and Western Europe, while the countries with the lowest scores were in Southern and Eastern Europe.
