In 2021, almost 9 million people in the EU worked as ICT specialists, representing 4.5% of the total EU workforce. The share of ICT specialists has been increasing in the EU over the last decade, rising by 1.3 percentage points (pp) since 2012.
Among the EU Member States, the share of ICT specialists was highest in Sweden (8.0%) and Finland (7.4%). The smallest shares were observed in Romania (2.6%) and Greece (2.8%).
The number of ICT specialists in the EU grew by 50.5 % from 2012 to 2021, almost 8 times as high as the increase (6.3 %) for total employment.
Source dataset: isoc_sks_itspt
Highest share of women in ICT in Bulgaria, Romania and Malta
Despite a slight increase over the last decade, women accounted for less than a fifth of ICT specialists (19.1%) in 2021.
Among the EU Member States, the highest shares of women among employed ICT specialists were observed in Bulgaria (28.2%), Romania (26.0%) and Malta (25.6%), while the smallest shares were observed in Czechia (10.0%), Hungary (14.0%) and Slovakia (14.9%).
Source dataset: isoc_sks_itsps
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on ICT specialists in employment
- Dedicated section on digital economy and society
- Database on digital economy and society
- Dedicated section on employment and unemployment ’
- Database on employment and unemployment
Methodological notes:
- ICT specialists are defined as persons who have the ability to develop, operate and maintain ICT systems and for whom ICTs constitute the main part of their job.
- ICT specialists’ statistics are derived from Labour Force Survey statistics.
- In 2021 data, as a consequence of the implementation of the new regulation on Integrated European Social Statistics, definitions differ in Spain and in France: see the source data (Labour Force survey) metadata for more details. In addition, all variables are flagged as ‘break in series’.
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