Quality in the focus of innovation - Issue number 33/2009 - Products Statistics in Focus

According to the 2006 Community Innovation Survey (CIS 2006), participation in innovation activity differs widely across countries and economic sectors. The main focus of the CIS is placed on product and/or process innovators. The size of the enterprise seems to be a key factor in terms of innovation. This publication aims to shed light on why, at EU level, less than one third of small enterprises engaged in innovation activity introduced new or improved products to the market, whereas this was the case for close to half of large enterprises. On average, turnover from new or significantly improved (new-to-market) products accounted for 10% of the total turnover of enterprises engaged in innovation activity. Cooperation does not seem to be a necessary precondition for enterprises to innovate. However, more than half of innovative enterprises were engaged in cooperation in their innovation activities in Cyprus, Finland, Lithuania and Slovenia.