Bulgaria is third in the EU in terms of added value in the sector of communication services Technologies | Eurocom TV

Bulgaria is in third place in the European Union (EU) with the highest percentage (7.3) of the gross added value /BKP/ in the information and communication technology (ICT) services sector, according to Eurostat data.

In 2021, the sector’s added value in the bloc equals 5.5% of the EU’s gross added value: 4.7% from ICT services and 0.8% from ICT manufacturing.

Of the EU countries for which aggregated “ICT sector” data is available, the country with the highest gross value added is Malta (10.3%), while Greece has the lowest share (3.5%).

The three EU countries with the highest ratios in ICT services are Malta (9.4%), Cyprus (8.9%) and Bulgaria (7.3%). At the same time, Hungary (1.2%), Malta (0.8%), Latvia and Slovakia (both 0.6%) had the highest share of gross value added through ICT production.

As regards the share of employment in the ICT sector, the Union average is 3.2%.

Between 2011 and 2021, among the EU countries for which 2021 data are available, only Denmark reported a decrease in the share of those employed in the ICT sector in total employment (-0.6 percentage points), while Latvia and Estonia registered the largest increase – 2.2 percentage points.

In 2021, the highest ICT employment shares in Ireland (6.1%), Estonia (5.6%) and Sweden (5.2%). At the same time, the lowest shares are in Greece (1.7%), Poland and Portugal (both 3.0%).