ICT Sector Fact Sheet 

KEY POINTS

• The ICT industry encompasses those businesses that produce the equipment, software and services to process, deliver and display information electronically. The industry includes the production of computer hardware and their peripheral devices, computer software, telecommunications assets, computer services and telecommunications services.

• The total income in Australia derived from the sale, distribution and provision of ICT goods and services totalled $97.8 billion in 2006–07 and the total Industry Value Added was $44 billion [1]. 

• ICTs greatly enhance the productive and innovative capacity of nearly all other industries, in particular those of financial services, resources, energy, manufacturing, health, education and entertainment. ICTs are continuously transforming the way all industry sectors collect, analyse, utilise, distribute and exchange information.

• Australia has the 12th largest ICT market globally and the fifth largest in the Asia Pacific region. The Australian market is almost as large as the combined ICT markets of Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore [3].

FACTS AND FIGURES

• In 2007–08 Australia's imports of ICT goods and services totalled $26.9 billion while exports totalled $5.2 billion.  Major sources of imports include China, ASEAN and the USA and major export markets include the USA, UK and ASEAN [4]. 

• Australia ranks fourth in the world in terms of overall e-readiness with a score of 8.83, up from ninth position in 2007.  This rate is well above the Asia-Pacific average of 6.34.  E-readiness is a measure of the quality of a country’s ICT infrastructure and the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to derive economic and social benefit from ICTs [5]. 

• Approximately 400 000 Australians are employed in ICT occupations or by specific ICT businesses [6].    

• The Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia reported the sale of video and computer games to be worth $1.5 billion in 2007–08, an increase of 53 per cent on the previous financial year [7]. 

• During 2006¬–07 Australian businesses (from all industry sectors) spent approximately $3.2 billion on research and experimental development in the field of information, computing & communication sciences.  This represents 26 per cent of all businesses expenditure across all fields of research and experimental development [8].

References

1.  ABS ICT Industry Survey 2006–2007, Cat. No. 8126.0, published 7 October 2008.
2. World Information Technology and Services Alliance, Digital Planet 2008, the Global Information Economy, Austrade Financial Services 
3. Benchmark Report 2008.
4. ABS Trade Data on DFAT STARS Database and ABS Publications: 5368.0 and 5302.0.
5. Economist Intelligence Unit, E-readiness Rankings 2008, Maintaining Momentum; Austrade Financial Services Benchmark Report 2008.
6. ABS, Labour Force Survey, August 2008; Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations trend data.
7. IEAA – News Room: http://www.ieaa.com.au/news.html, published 16 July 2008. 
8. ABS Research and Experimental Development, Businesses, Australia, 2006-07, Cat. No. 8104.0, published 14 October 2008.