Enterprises' IT expenditure, 2020
Cloud services accounted for 24 percent of enterprises’ expenditures on IT services in 2020
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2021-10-07 9.30
Enterprises’ IT expenditures amounted to almost SEK 161 billion in 2020. This is an increase of roughly SEK 8 billion, equivalent to 5 percent, compared with 2019, in current prices. Cloud services accounted for 24 percent of enterprises’ IT services in 2020. Cloud services are common mainly in the trade industry, in which expenditures on cloud services amounted to roughly SEK 6 billion. This corresponds to 29 percent of total IT-related expenditures in the industry.
IT services and software account for the major part of enterprises’ IT expenditures. This was also the case in 2020, when IT services accounted for 50 percent of enterprises’ IT expenditures, and software accounted for 33 percent. This distribution has been roughly unchanged since 2014. The figure below also shows that the progression in IT services and software follow one another relatively closely.
Between 2019 and 2020, both IT services and software increased by just under 9 percent, while telecommunications equipment decreased by 26 percent, in current prices.
IT expenditures vary by enterprise size
IT expenditures increase based on the size of the enterprise, measured by the number of employees. This applies for both total IT expenditures and the various types of expenses. Regarding computer equipment, however, total expenses among small and medium-sized enterprises are larger than among big enterprises. IT services and software are the largest expenditure items, regardless of the size of enterprise.
| 10–49 employees | 50–249 employees | 250+ employees | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer equipmnet | 2 952 | 4 118 | 6 914 | 13 984 |
| Telecommunication equipment | 1 082 | 1 839 | 5 129 | 8 050 |
| Leasing | 1 486 | 1 573 | 3 042 | 6 101 |
| Software | 4 418 | 10 693 | 37 423 | 52 534 |
| It-services | 7 677 | 18 386 | 54 159 | 80 222 |
| Total | 17 615 | 36 609 | 106 667 | 160 891 |
Enterprises’ purchases of IT services
An IT service refers to a service, purchased by an enterprise, of a functioning computer. This includes items such as service, maintenance, and cloud services. IT services can be procured internally from other enterprises within the group, or from an external supplier.
In 2020, enterprises’ IT services expenditures amounted to just over SEK 80 billion. This is an increase of SEK 6.3 billion, equivalent to 9 percent, compared with 2019, in current prices. Enterprises most often purchase IT services from an external supplier; these purchases accounted for 68 percent of total IT services expenditures. The figure below shows that the rise in expenditures on IT services occurred both among external and internal suppliers.
Cloud services – a form of IT services
In 2020, enterprises reported the proportion of cloud services compared with total IT services. Cloud services include IT services that enable enterprises to manage software, processing power, data storage and other services online, rather than via the computer software. In addition, cloud services enable access to these services from different units via the internet, for example computers, mobile phones, and tablets. In total, cloud services accounted for 24 percent of total IT services.
Purchasing from an external supplier is also most common for cloud services. The proportion of external and internal cloud services in relation to external and internal IT services is roughly the same. External cloud services accounted for 26 percent of the external IT services, and internal cloud services accounted for 20 percent of internal IT services.
The size of cloud services expenditures varies between industries. The table below presents the five industries with the largest expenditures for cloud services (both external and internal). The largest expenditures are found in the trade industry, in which they amounted for roughly SEK 6 billion, equivalent to 29 percent of total IT expenditures in the industry.
Software expenditures vary between industries and enterprises
Enterprises’ total software expenditures have increased in almost all years except 2018. Enterprises in the financial and insurance industry, closely followed by the manufacturing industry and the trade industry account for the largest expenses on software.
Compared with 2019, expenditures in these industries increased by 3 percent in the financial industry, 5 percent in the manufacturing industry, and 18 percent in the trade industry. The largest increase in percentage terms was noted among other services enterprises, up by 22 percent compared with the previous years. However, software expenditures in this industry were considerably lower.
Software expenditures by enterprise size, measured by number of employees, show the same pattern throughout the period 2014–2020; the largest enterprises have the largest expenses and the smallest enterprises have the smallest expenses.
Compared with 2019, the increase in 2020 was largest among enterprises with 250 or more employees; expenditures in this group increased by SEK 2.6 billion. The increase in percentage terms, on the other hand, was largest among enterprises with between 50 and 249 employees, in which software expenditures increased by 20 percent.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.