UK Tech Growth Lags Behind Global Average

The British technology sector is failing to keep up with the global pace of growth, expanding by just 0.84 percent in 2010, compared with annual global growth of 3.3 percent.

According to analyst firm IDATE’s latest DigiWorld Yearbook, the UK is even falling behind the likes of France and Germany, which saw around 2 percent growth last year.

Despite this, UK consumers and businesses still account for the largest portion of Europe’s technology revenue, with an average revenue per capita of £1,800 between 2010 and 2011. This was largely due to strong spending by businesses, which accounted for 45 percent of total technology revenues, compared to an EU average of 38 percent.

“We can see from this year’s figures that growth in the UK is moderate and under-performing European and global peers.” said Yves Gassot, chief executive of IDATE. “However we shouldn’t underestimate the resilience of the UK technology market and it’s encouraging to see business spending on technology was robust during 2010.”

Digital economy grows 3 percent

The DigiWorld Yearbook, which aims to provide a concise portrait of the digital economy, claims that global digital economy was worth €2,754 billion in 2010. The 3.3 percent global growth just managed to offset the previous year’s losses of 2.1 percent, but is still far-removed from the strong performances of the mid-2000s, when growth was regularly above 5 percent.

North America has pulled ahead of Europe in terms of equipment sales, but emerging markets are still driving the planet’s growth, with China managing to translate the rise in sales into a rise in revenue – both at home and abroad. India, meanwhile, showed a huge surge in equipment levels, but has so far failed to fully capitalise on this increase.

The book also tracks the development of key trends affecting the technology industry, such as cloud computing, consumerisation of IT and the mobile Internet. It discusses the irresistible rise of Google’s Android operating system, the emergence of tablets, uncertainties over the roll-out of fibre optic broadband, and the issue of net neutrality.

The DigiWorld Yearbook is published in English and French and available in print and PDF format, and for eBook and iPad.