Cloud computing - statistics on the use by enterprises

Data extracted in December 2023.

Planned article update: December 2025.

Highlights

42.5 % of EU enterprises bought cloud computing services in 2023, mostly for e-mail, storage of files and office software.

Compared with 2021, the share of enterprises buying cloud computing services in the EU increased by 4.2 percentage points in 2023.

Enterprises buying cloud computing services, EU, 2021 and 2023

Cloud computing for business yet to go mainstream in the EU

This article presents recent statistics on enterprises' buying cloud computing services in the European Union (EU). In principle, cloud computing involves two components, a cloud infrastructure and software applications. The first consists of the hardware resources required to support the cloud services being provided and typically includes server, storage and network components. The second component refers to software applications and computing power for running business applications, provided via the internet by third parties.

Full article

Cloud computing in enterprises: highlights

45.2 % of EU enterprises bought cloud computing services in 2023, mostly for hosting their e-mail systems, storing files in electronic form and office software.
75.3 % of those enterprises purchased sophisticated cloud services relating to security software applications, hosting enterprise’s databases or computing platform for application development, testing or deployment.
Compared with 2021, the share of enterprises buying cloud computing increased by 4.2 percentage points.

Cloud computing as a service model for meeting enterprises’ ICT needs

Essentially, instead of building or expanding their own IT infrastructure (which would include hardware and involve developing and maintaining software applications and databases), enterprises can access computing resources hosted by third parties on the internet (the ‘cloud’).

In technological terms, cloud computing is a model for providing enterprises with ubiquitous, flexible, on demand access over the internet to a pool of configurable computing resources, including servers, databases, software applications, storage capacity and computing power.

Cloud computing can be seen as the technological evolution of server-based computing. The cloud/internet functions as an enormous networked server. Consequently, enterprises can use the services through the internet using devices ranging from relatively low-cost desktop computers (‘thin clients’) to any number of various portable devices.

Cloud computing services should be delivered from service providers’ servers and, for the purposes of the ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises survey, have the following mandatory characteristics:

on-demand self-service: users may request computing resources without human interaction with the service provider;
elasticity of provision: capabilities may be easily scaled up or down, e.g. in response to changes in the number of users or required storage capacity, so that enterprises can meet demand peaks without having to invest in infrastructure that will otherwise remain idle or underutilised; and
payable services (pay-per-user, pay-per-use or pre-paid).

In principle, the service providers may deliver ICT-related services from shared servers (public cloud) or from a cloud infrastructure provided for the exclusive use of a particular enterprise (private cloud).

Enterprises buying cloud computing services

As cloud computing services can be delivered only via the internet, enterprises must have internet access to be able to use them. In 2023, this applied to almost all EU enterprises (99 %) with 10 or more employees and self-employed. Although the proportion of enterprises with internet access was at similar near saturation levels in most Member States, more than two in five (45.2 %) reported that they bought cloud computing services, with an increase of 4.2 percentage points (pp) compared to 2021 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Enterprises buying cloud computing services, EU, 2021 and 2023 (% of enterprises)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

Significant differences can be observed across countries. In Finland (78.3 %), Sweden (71.6 %), Denmark (69.5 %) and Malta (66.7 %) at least 65 % of enterprises bought cloud computing services. On the other hand, in Greece (23.6 %), Romania (18.4 %) and Bulgaria (17.5 %) less than 25 % of enterprises did so.

Among the enterprises that reported buying cloud computing, some 82.7 % relied on a cloud solution for their e-mail (see Table 1). Instead of setting up a server infrastructure for their e-mail system, these enterprises opted for a cloud solution.

Table 1: Cloud computing in enterprises, 2023
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

Cloud computing services may meet a wide range of other business ICT needs. More than two out of three enterprises (68 %) buying the cloud used it for storing files. 66.3 % of enterprises reported purchasing office software (e.g. word processors, spreadsheets) and 61 % security software applications as cloud service, while some 43 % hosted their database on the cloud.

Most importantly, via the cloud, enterprises have access to relatively more sophisticated end customer software applications, for finances/accounting (51.6 %), for planning their processes and resources (enterprise resource planning - ERP) (25.9 %) and for managing information about their customers (customer relationship management – CRM) (25 %). Slightly more than one in four enterprises (26.1 %) purchased cloud computing services as computing platform providing a hosted environment for application development, testing or deployment. In addition, 25.4 % reported buying the (usually high-performance) cloud computing platforms for computing power in order to run their own business software applications.

Not surprisingly, the highest proportion of enterprises buying cloud computing services (79 %) was in the information and communication sector, while in almost all other economic sectors the percentage was below 60 % and ranged from 37.6 % to 56 % (see Figure 2). ‘Professional, scientific and technical’ enterprises came in between, with 62.4 % reporting purchasing cloud services. Compared with 2021, the increase in the share of enterprises purchasing cloud computing was highest in the real estate sector ( +7.5 percentage points).

Figure 2: Enterprises buying cloud computing services by economic activity, EU, 2021 and 2023 (% of enterprises)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_usen2)

The share of enterprises buying cloud computing services was particularly high among large enterprises where 77.6 % reported purchasing such services in 2023, i.e. an increase of 6 percentage points compared with 2021. In 2023, 59 % of medium-sized enterprises purchased cloud computing services compared to 53 % in 2021. Among small businesses, the share of enterprises buying cloud computing services increased in the same time period by 3.8 percentage points to 41.7 % (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Enterprises buying cloud computing services by size class, EU, 2021 and 2023 (% of enterprises)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

Figure 4 shows the comparison between 2021 and 2023 in the different types of cloud services bought by enterprises. In 2023, e-mail and storage of files are still predominant among purchased cloud services, with 82.7 % and respectively 68 % of enterprises reported buying these types of cloud services. Compared with 2021 a moderate growth by more than 4 pp was recorded for the purchase of some cloud services like platform for application development, testing or deployment (+5.2 pp), for office software on the cloud (+4.9 pp) and for accounting and financial applications on the cloud (+4.3 pp). On the other hand, the share of enterprises buying two types of cloud services recorded a slight drop in 2023 compared to 2021 – the hosting of enterprise's database(s) on the cloud decreased by 2.6 pp and the use of CRM software applications decreased by 1.7 pp.

Figure 4: Enterprises buying cloud computing services by type of cloud service, EU, 2021 and 2023
(% of enterprises buying cloud services)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

Enterprises buying cloud computing by service model

Of the EU enterprises buying cloud computing services, majority (95.8 %) bought at least one cloud Software as a Service (SaaS), i.e. at least one of e-mail, office software, finance or accounting software applications, ERP, CRM or security software applications as a cloud service (Figure 5). Large proportion (74.2 %) purchased also at least one cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), i.e. at least one of the hosting enterprise’s database, storage of files or computing power to run enterprise’s own software as a cloud computing service. Slightly over one out of four (26.1 %) enterprises bought cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS), i.e. computing platform providing a hosted environment for application development, testing or deployment as a cloud service. While the purchase of SaaS was equally popular among enterprises regardless of their size, there was a slight variation among those buying IaaS and PaaS among different size classes. The share of large enterprises buying IaaS reached 83.3 % among enterprises using cloud, and was higher by 6.6 pp from the respective share among medium enterprises and by 10.3 pp higher than among small enterprises. Similarly, large enterprises purchased PaaS more often (48.1 %) than medium enterprises (32.6 %) or small enterprises (23.1 %).

Figure 5: Types of cloud computing services purchased by service model and size class, EU, 2023
(% of enterprises buying cloud services)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

Enterprises’ dependence on cloud computing

Enterprises dependence on cloud computing services can be described by level of sophistication of the cloud services they are buying. Based on the survey data, the types of services have been classified into three levels: basic, intermediate and sophisticated cloud computing services. Enterprises buying basic cloud services are those, which purchased at least one of the following services: e-mail as a cloud service, office software as a cloud service, storage of files or computing power to run enterprise’s own software, and do not use any other of the services covered. Enterprises buying intermediate cloud services purchase at least one of the following services: finance or accounting software application as a cloud service, ERP a software application as a cloud or CRM software application as a cloud service, but none of the sophisticated services. Enterprises buying sophisticated cloud services include those, which purchased at least one of: security software applications, hosting enterprise’s databases or computing platform providing a hosted environment for application development, testing or deployment. In 2023, 45.2 % of EU enterprises reported buying the cloud and a relatively high proportion (34 % of the total) reported purchasing at least one of the sophisticated services and were hence classified as highly dependent on cloud services (see Figure 6). The highest proportion of enterprises highly dependent on cloud services were recorded in Finland (63.6 %), Denmark (62.8 %), Sweden (56.1 %) and the Netherlands (52.3 %).

Figure 6: Enterprises buying cloud computing services and high level dependence on the cloud, 2023 (% of enterprises)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

In 2023, among enterprises that purchased cloud computing services, 75.3 % were ‘highly dependent’ on cloud, buying sophisticated cloud services, while 10.4 % were buying intermediate level cloud services and 12.9 % of enterprises relying only on the basic cloud services (see Figure 7). While in all sectors, majority of enterprises purchased the most advanced cloud services, the highest proportion of enterprises buying sophisticated cloud services was in information and communication (87.4 %). On the other hand, the lowest proportion of enterprises buying sophisticated services was in real estate sector (71 %), and the highest percentage of enterprises purchasing cloud and relying only on basic cloud services was in the transport and storage sector (14.6 %) (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Level of sophistication of purchased cloud computing services by economic activity, EU, 2023
(% enterprises buying cloud services)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_usen2)

The degree of dependence on cloud computing varied only slightly among enterprises of different size classes. The sophisticated cloud computing services were purchased by 83.6 % of large enterprises that bought cloud computing services compared to 77.4 % and 74.2 % of medium and small enterprises that bought cloud computing services respectively (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Level of sophistication of purchased cloud computing services by size class, EU, 2023
(% of enterprises buying cloud services)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

Source data for tables and graphs

Tables and graphs for Cloud computing

Data sources

Source: Data presented in this article are based on the results of the 2023 EU survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises. Statistics were obtained from surveys in enterprises conducted by National Statistical Authorities in the first months of 2023. Source data shown as ':' refer to data that are unavailable, unreliable, confidential or not applicable. Unreliable data are included in the calculation of European aggregates. Data presented in this article may differ from the data in the database on account of updates made after the data extractions used for this article. Data in the database are organised according to the survey year.

Sample: In 2023, some 161 000 enterprises, with 10 or more employees or self-employed persons, out of 1.5 million in EU were surveyed. Out of these 1.5 million enterprises, approximately 83 % were small enterprises (with 10-49 employees or self-employed persons), 14 % medium (50-249 employees) and 3 % large enterprises (250 or more employees).

Main concepts: The observation statistical unit is the enterprise, as defined in the Regulation (EEC) No 696/1993 of 15 March 1993. The survey covered enterprises with at least 10 employees or self-employed persons. Economic activities correspond to the classification NACE Revision 2. The sectors covered are manufacturing, electricity, gas and steam, water supply, construction, wholesale and retail trades, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities, information and communication, real estate, professional, scientific and technical activities, administrative and support activities and repair of computers and communication equipment.

Context

A Europe fit for the digital age is a major priority of the European Commission. The strategy is built on three pillars: (1) Technology that works for the people; (2) A fair and competitive digital economy; (3) An open, democratic and sustainable society.

Cloud computing is one of the strategic digital technologies considered important enablers for productivity and better services. Enterprises use cloud computing to optimise resource utilisation and build business models and market strategies that will enable them to grow, innovate and become more competitive. The Digital Services Act and European data strategy aim to enable and facilitate a faster adoption of cloud computing across all sectors of the economy; this can cut ICT costs and, when combined with new digital business practices, boost productivity, growth and jobs.