• Information

    Digital economy and society in the EU is a digital publication released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

    For further information see:

    The dedicated section on digital economy and society on the Eurostat website.

    Articles on the digital economy and society in Statistics Explained.

    Information on data

    Date of data extraction/update: 01 June 2017 for text and all data visualisations.

    ICT usage data are organised in Eurostat's online database according to the year in which the survey was conducted.
    For households/people, most countries collected data in the 2nd quarter of the survey year. In general, data refer to the 1st quarter of the survey year. Data on e-commerce and internet security refer to the 12 months prior to the survey.
    For businesses, most data refer to the situation during the survey period. Data on ICT specialists, ICT functions and e-commerce refer to the year preceding the survey year.
    In the visualisations, data marked as 'not available' can be missing, unreliable or confidential. For more information, please see the source dataset available below each visualisation.

    Contact

    If you have questions on the data, please contact the Eurostat User Support.


    Identifiers of the digital publication:

    Catalogue number: KS-01-17-543-EN-Q
    ISBN 978-92-79-69326-7
    Doi: 10.2785/247196

    [Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of the following information.]
    Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017

    © European Union, 2017
    Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
    The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39).

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4. What is the digital single market about?

Digital technologies and in particular the internet are transforming our world and the European Commission wants to make the EU’s single market fit for the digital age – moving from 28 national digital markets to a single one.

Up until now, EU citizens and businesses have often faced barriers when using online tools and services. These barriers mean that consumers have restricted access to some goods and services, businesses cannot reap all benefits from digitisation, and governments and citizens cannot fully benefit from this digital transformation. The Digital Single Market opens new opportunities, as it removes key differences between online and offline worlds, breaking down the barriers to cross-border online activity.

The Digital Single Market strategy was adopted on 6 May 2015 and is one of the European Commission’s 10 political priorities. It is made up of three policy pillars:

 

1. Improving access to digital goods and services
The Digital Single Market strategy seeks to ensure better access for consumers and business to online goods and services across Europe, for example by removing barriers to cross-border e-commerce and access to online content while increasing consumer protection.

2. An environment where digital networks and services can prosper
The Digital Single Market aims to create the right environment for digital networks and services by providing high-speed, secure and trustworthy infrastructures and services supported by the right regulatory conditions. Key concerns include cybersecurity, data protection/e-privacy, and the fairness and transparency of online platforms.

3. Digital as a driver for growth
The Digital Single Market Strategy aims at maximising the growth potential of the European Digital Economy, so that every European can fully enjoy its benefits – notably by enhancing digital skills, which are essential for an inclusive digital society.

 

Read more about the Digital Single Market on the website of the Directorate-General 'Communications Networks, Content and Technology'.

 Commission and its priorities: Digital single market 
 Digital Scoreboard 
 European Digital Progress Report