OREANDA-NEWS. June 18, 2009. In Q1 this year the 1,700 ICT (information and communication technology) sector companies in Estonia generated 5 percent of the total business revenue in the country, Statistics Estonia reported.

In all the revenue of the sector in Q1 totaled 5.6 billion kroons (EUR 358 mln) with the value added amounting to 1.8 billion kroons. The value added made up 9 percent of the total value added in the business sector.

In terms of pure value added the labor productivity of companies of the ICT sector was more than double the average labor productivity in business. The average labor productivity of manufactoring companies of the ICT sector was at the same level with that of manufacturing companies, but the labor productivity of service companies of the sector was nearly three times higher than the average in companies of the service sector.

Last quarter there were more than 16,500 people employed in the ICT sector, making up about 4 percent of those gainfully employed. On the average companies of the ICT sector had 10 employees. Of companies of the sector 100 operated in manufacturing and 1,600 in services.

This year Statistics Estonia drew up an overview of the ICT sector for the first time. The sector includes companies of electronic storage, forwarding or display of information both in the manufacturing industry and service spheres.