The FINANCIAL — The full results of the Community Innovation Survey 2018, which contains a broad set of indicators on innovation activities of enterprises, are now available in the Eurostat database. In a nutshell, half (50.3%) of the enterprises in the EU with at least 10 people employed reported innovation activity in the three-year period 2016 – 2018, slightly more than in the period 2014 – 2016 (49.5%).
Estonia (73.1%), Cyprus (68.2%), Belgium and Germany (both 67.8%), Italy (63.2%), Sweden (63.1%), Austria (62.6%), Finland (61.9%) and Greece (60.3%) all had more than 60% of innovative enterprises.
In contrast, this share was at around 30% or less in Romania (14.6%), Poland (23.7%), Hungary (28.7%) and Bulgaria (30.1%).
Not every innovation activity relates to innovative products that are new to the market. Innovation activities can also relate to innovative business processes or other issues (such as new methods for production, information processing, marketing, distribution, enlarged assortment of the firm, still ongoing or abandoned innovation projects).
During the three-year period 2016 – 2018, 13.2% of all enterprises in the EU with at least 10 people employed launched one or more innovative products that were new to the market (the same % as in the period 2014 – 2016). Across the EU, this share varied between 24.8% in Finland and 2.9% in Romania.
