Competing in the Single Market - SMEs and ... - Erhvervsstyrelsen

Table 5: GDP Growth 1995-2003 in Selected Countries (at constant prices)1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1 (average)1995-20032000-2003(average)EU-15 2.4 1.6 2.5 2.9 2.8 3.5 1.6 1.0 1.2 2.2 1.8Estonia 4.3 3.9 9.8 4.6 -0.6 7.3 6.5 6.0 4.9 5.2 6.2Latvia -1.7 3.7 8.4 4.8 2.8 6.8 7.9 6.1 5.5 4.9 6.6Lithuania 6.2 4.7 7.0 7.3 -1.8 4.0 6.5 6.7 4.5 5.0 5.4Poland 7.0 6.0 6.8 4.8 4.1 15.8 1.0 1.6 2.5 5.5 5.2Denmark 2.8 2.5 3.0 2.5 2.6 2.9 1.4 1.6 1.5 2.3 1.9Finland 4.1 3.9 6.4 4.9 3.4 5.5 0.6 1.6 2.2 3.6 2.5Norway 4.4 5.3 5.2 2.6 2.1 2.4 1.4 1.5 1 2.2 2.8 1.5Sweden 4.0 1.3 2.4 3.6 4.6 4.4 1.1 1.9 1.4 2.7 2.21forecast.Source: EurostatSecondly, and perhaps more importantly for long-term growth, several indicators for innovation,science and technology have improved dramatically for the B4 countries in recent years. Amongother things, there are a number of indications that the B4 are making rapid progress in both the useof and investment in ICT. Table 6 shows the percentage increase in selected ICT indicators between2000 and 2002. In this time period, the number of PCs and of internet users per inhabitants firmlyexploded, increasing by as much as 69% and 137%, respectively, in the case of Lithuania, and resultingin increases that by far exceed the growth rates for the EU average in the same time period. 9 It is safe toconclude, therefore, that, at least in the field of ICT, compared with the much slower rate of change inthe European Union countries, one of the salient features of the B4 is a clear trend towards reducingthe innovation gap and a rapid progress towards a knowledge-based economy.Table 6: Indicators of the Baltic Sea Countries ‘catching up’ (% increase 2002/2000)Number of PCsNumber of InternetUsersNumber of InternetHostsMobile PhoneSubscriptionsEstonia 38 52 65 67Lithuania 69 137 229 236Latvia 22 115 42 135Poland 53 36 93 112EU-15 (%increase2001/2000) 10.7 27 19.5 14.9Source: Eurostat, ITU, own calculations9Corresponding figures for the EU average could not be calculated due to the fact that the EU-15 averages for these indicators were not available at the time ofpublication of this report. While there has been a continuous increase in the EU average in all four indicators between 1995 and 2001, the growth rates havebeen gradually declining since 1995. Thus, it is fairly safe to assume that the annual increase in these four indicators in 2002 was smaller than the increase in2001, and, therefore, that the % increase between 2000 and 2002 in the EU average for these indicators is less than double the year-on-year increase recordedfor 2001.22