72.6% of enterprises in Greece innovate

The percentage of innovative enterprises in Greece for the period 2018-2020 reached 72.6%, showing an increase of 12.3 percentage points compared to the period 2016-2018, according to the data on innovation in Greek enterprises, which was published by the National Documentation Centre (EKT). The statistics are transmitted by EKT to Eurostat as part of the official European statistics on innovation and the innovative activities of enterprises in the EU (CIS - Community Innovation Survey).

The population of the pan-Hellenic CIS statistical survey, conducted in 2021 by EKT, comprised 14,500 plus enterprises with 10 or more employees, in various branches of economic activity in Industry and Services. The publication ‘Key indicators for innovation in Greek enterprises 2018-2020’ is available at https://metrics.ekt.gr/publications/588.

Survey findings show that in the period 2018-2020 in Greece, 72.6% of enterprises innovated, introducing new or improved products and implementing new business processes. The percentage of innovative enterprises shows an upward trend in recent years and in the period 2018-2020 this increased by 12.3 percentage points compared to the immediately preceding period 2016-2018. This increase is remarkable and is related to the requirements for new products and business processes adopted by Greek enterprises due to the economic and social conditions brought about by the pandemic in 2020 (one of the three-year reference period 2018-2020).

The improvement in the performance of Greek enterprises in terms of innovation is greater in the Services sector. In the 2018-2020 period, the percentage of innovative enterprises in the Services sector amounted to 72.9%, compared to 58.9% in the 2016-2018 period, showing an increase of 14 percentage points. The highest percentages for innovative enterprises were recorded in the sector ‘Financial and insurance activities’ (78.9%) and in the sector ‘Information and communication’ (78.4%), the preeminent sector of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

The rate of innovation also increased in the Industry sector, where the rate of innovative enterprises for the period 2018-2020 amounted to 72.1%, compared to 62.4% for the period 2016-2018, showing an increase of 9.7 percentage points. The highest percentage of innovative enterprises (72.9%) was recorded in the Manufacturing sector.

In the period 2018-2020, the percentage of enterprises with business process innovations amounted to 66.7%, compared to 55.2% for the period 2016-2018, showing an increase of 11.9 percentage points. New or improved processes related to business functions such as work organisation, marketing, logistics, IT applications, production of goods and services, and financial management.

A high performance in product innovation was also recorded. In the period 2018-2020, the percentage of enterprises in Greece with product innovations amounted to 48.4%, compared to 42.5% for the period 2016-2018, showing an increase of 5.9 percentage points. Compared to the first reference period 2010-2012, this percentage has more than doubled.

In the 2018-2020 period, the percentage of enterprises that collaborated with other enterprises or organisations for the implementation of innovative activities amounted to 20.2%, showing a slight decrease compared to the 2016-2018 period (percentage of 21.4). The degree of co-operation increased with the size of the enterprises. Large enterprises developed collaborative innovative activities at a rate of 58.3%, compared to only 17.1% of small enterprises and 32.2% of medium-sized ones. The development, economic and commercial activities of an enterprise that aim to introduce innovations, either in products or in business processes, are characterised as being innovative.

Finally, regarding the regional distribution of innovative enterprises, in the period 2018-2020 percentages of innovative businesses higher than the average national performance (72.6%), were recorded in the Region of Kentriki Makedonia (78.0%), in the Region of Thessalia (74, 7%), in the Region of Kriti (74.5%) and in the Region of Dytiki Ellada (74.2%). In all Regions the innovation rates were higher than 50%.

ΕΚΤ's Role

The publication of the indicators for innovative enterprises is part of the regular production of official statistics on Research, Development and Innovation in Greece, carried out by EKT, as the competent body and national authority of the Hellenic Statistical System, in collaboration with of the Hellenic Statistical Authority. The relevant indicators are published in EKT’s printed and electronic publications available at http://metrics.ekt.gr.

The CIS survey on innovation in Greek enterprises was carried out based on the methodological guidelines of the new revised Oslo Manual 2018 ‘Guidelines for collecting, reporting and using data on Innovation’ jointly published by Eurostat and the OECD. It should be noted that EKT translated into the Greek language the most recent version of the Oslo Manual, the international reference guide for the measurement of innovation. The publication ‘Oslo Manual 2018, Guidelines for the Collection, Presentation and Use of Innovation Statistics, 4th Edition is available at https://metrics.ekt.gr/publications/552.

The statistics and indicators for Research, Development and Innovation in Greece, which are produced and published by EKT, are transmitted on a regular basis to Eurostat and the OECD, from where they are used in flagship publications including the European Innovation Scoreboard. Data on the ranking of Greece in the European Innovation Scoreboard in 2021 along with the longitudinal data for the individual indicators for the period 2014-2021, were recently published by EKT in a special publication, ‘Greece’s ranking in the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2014-2021’. The publication is available at https://metrics.ekt.gr/publications/567.

The survey on enterprise innovation for the period 2018-2020 was carried out within the framework of Sub-project 5 ‘Production of RIS3 indicators for the years 2016-2023’ under the Action ‘Installation of a Monitoring Mechanism of the implementation for the national RIS3 strategy - Collection and processing Indicators’, implemented by the National Documentation Centre, under the Operational Programme ‘Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship & Innovation (NSRF 2014-2020)’, with the co-financing of Greece and the European Union-European Regional Development Fund.