Sales up 0.9 percent after two weak years

ICT sales in the EU states are expected to grow by 0.9 percent to 651 billion euros, according to the digital association Bitkom, based on a recent study by the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO).

While business with IT hardware and services as well as software increased by 2.1 percent to 364 billion euros, TC sales fell by 0.6 percent to 287 billion euros.

"The ICT market in Europe is recovering. The slight growth is mainly driven by strongly increasing investments in software, which are related to the digital transformation of many companies."

says Bitkom chief economist Axel Pols.

The ICT markets in the EU's southern crisis countries are causing concern. Sales are down 3.5 percent in Greece and 2.1 percent in Italy. Pols:

"The financial and economic crisis has also left a significant mark on the countries' high-tech sectors, slowing overall growth in Europe."

Russian market shrinks

Global ICT sales will increase by 3.1 percent to 2.8 trillion euros. The telecommunications sector will grow at an above-average rate of 3.4 percent to 1.6 trillion euros.

The increase in information technology is somewhat more modest at 2.8 percent to 1.2 trillion euros. India (up 9.0 percent to 53 billion euros) is replacing China (up 6.9 percent to 325 billion euros) as the fastest-growing ICT nation.

Brazil is in second place (up 8.9 percent to 118 billion euros). In the EITO country comparison, the Russian ICT market is developing the weakest this year, shrinking by 6.1 percent to EUR 41 billion.

The USA remains by far the largest ICT market, with sales growth of 2.8 percent to around EUR 800 billion.