Spending on IT per person is much higher in the UK, Germany and France than in southern Europe. A study by German high-tech association BITKOM showed an EU average of €1,197. At the lower end were Italy (€930), Spain (€928), Russia (€403), China (€213) and India (€49).
Similarly higher expenditures in Germany for information technology and telecommunications were significantly higher than many other major industrial nations at €1,477. Japan (€1,807, UK (€1,994) and the USA (€2,430) were higher, however. France was just behind Germany at €1,470.
"ICT investment are the most important indicator of the development of the digital economy and society," says BITKOM President Prof. Dieter Kempf. "The gap [for Germany] with the UK and the USA is far too great."
While the ICT spend in 2013 stagnated in Germany compared with 2012, the weaker countries did significantly increase their spending. The fastest growing was India (up 11%), followed by Brazil (10%), China (9%) and Russia (5%).