1377.0 - Measures of a Knowledge-based Economy and Society, Australia, 2003  
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Contents >> Information and Communications Technology Indicators >> Proportion of businesses placing or receiving orders via the Internet or web, by broad industry group

CHARACTERISTIC: PREVALENCE OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

INDICATOR: Proportion of businesses placing or receiving orders via the Internet or web, by broad industry group

Just over a quarter of all businesses (28%) placed orders via the Internet or web during 200203. This was an increase over the previous year, when 25% of businesses placed orders via the Internet or web. The proportion of businesses receiving orders (selling) via the Internet or web increased from 6% in 200102 to 13% in 200203. The income generated from this activity more than doubled between 2001–02 and 2002–03, with Internet income earned by Australian businesses reaching approximately $24.3 billion for 200203.


BUSINESSES PLACING AND RECEIVING ORDERS VIA THE INTERNET/WEB(a), by Industry

200102
200203


Businesses placing orders via the Internet/web
Businesses receiving orders via the Internet/web(b)
Businesses placing orders via the Internet/web
Businesses receiving orders via the Internet/web(b)
Industry
%
%
%
%

Mining
28
*2
28
^4
Manufacturing
26
8
30
^24
Electricity, gas and water supply
np
np
33
13
Construction
12
3
14
^6
Wholesale trade
33
11
36
29
Retail trade
18
7
22
^9
Accommodation, cafes and restaurants
16
10
17
15
Transport and storage
22
11
23
^12
Communication services
23
9
25
^11
Finance and insurance
34
*3
33
^11
Property and business services
39
7
43
16
Health and community services
23
**1
25
^5
Cultural and recreational services
26
9
31
^15
Personal and other services
17
4
22
^11

Total
25
6
28
13

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
(a) Proportions are of all businesses in scope of the survey (that is mainly employing businesses) in each industry. See publication Explanatory Notes for more information
Source: ABS Business Use of Information Technology, Australia, 200101 and 2002–03 (cat. no. 8129.0).



BUSINESSES PLACING AND RECEIVING ORDERS VIA THE INTERNET/WEB(a)
businesses placing and receiving orders via the internet/web(a)
Source: ABS Business Use of Information Technology, Australia, (cat. no. 8129.0).



STATISTICAL NOTES

Data are from the ABS annual Business Use of Information Technology Survey. Please see the Explanatory Notes of cat. no. 8129.0 for further information on the survey including scope, methodology, data quality, concepts and definitions.

Classification by industry
The above statistics are classified according to the 1993 edition of the
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) (cat. no. 1292.0). The statistical unit used in the survey is the management unit; these are classified to a single industry on the basis of their main income earning activity, irrespective of whether the unit also generates income from related or unrelated secondary activities.

Internet
A world-wide collection of computers which are linked together to form a repository of stored information and to provide a range of communication services. These services include, but are not limited to, the World Wide Web (WWW), email and extranet.

Web/World Wide Web (WWW)
A system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a script called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. Source: http://www.webopedia.com/.

Placing or receiving orders via the Internet or web
Placing or receiving orders for goods and services via the Internet or web, with or without associated online payments. Activities relating to Internet selling (receiving orders for goods and services via the Internet or web) are difficult to measure and estimates should be used with caution. See paragraphs 17–20 of publication Explanatory Notes for more information. Internet/Web selling includes email or Extranet orders, but excludes orders over proprietary networks not using the Internet.


INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS

BUSINESSES USING THE INTERNET FOR PLACING AND RECEIVING ORDERS, 2001, Or closest available year(a)(b)

Businesses placing orders over the Internet
Businesses receiving orders over the Internet
Businesses using the Internet
%
%
%

Australia
31.8
16.3
86.0
Austria
13.5
10.8
83.7
Canada(c)
15.9
4.7
70.8
Denmark
46.5
24.1
94.8
Finland
34.5
13.7
90.8
Greece
5.3
4.9
54.2
Italy
7.8
1.7
72.0
Japan(d)
18.1
22.5
91.5
Luxembourg
17.6
6.9
54.6
New Zealand
26.0
10.1
84.0
Norway
29.5
17.2
82.0
Portugal
12.2
6.5
72.0
Spain
9.4
6.1
67.0
Sweden
53.6
17.4
89.9

(a) Proportion of businesses with ten or more employees.
(b) Beginning of 2001 for Internet use. Placing and receiving orders refer to 2000, except for Canada where placing and receiving orders refer to 2001. For Denmark and Norway, Internet use refers to 2002 and placing and receiving orders refer to 2001. For Australia refer to June 2001 for Internet use, placing and receiving orders.
(c) All businesses.
(d) All businesses with 50 and more employees.
Source: OECD, ICT database, August 2002; Eurostat, E-commerce Pilot Survey 2001 Measuring the Information Economy 2002 (http://www.oecd.org).


STATISTICAL NOTES

Information on business use of ICT is provided to the OECD by National Statistical Organisations. Issues for international comparability include differences in the timing and scope (in particular industry and size) of national surveys. The table presented above has had scope differences due to size removed (with the exception of Canada and Japan).

Users should note that statistics on ICT use may differ because of differences in the composition of businesses between countries.



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