E-commerce accounts for 12 per cent of EU business

European countries are drawing significant revenues from e-commerce transactions

Revenues from e-commerce account for some 12 per cent of European business income, according to a recent report.

The European Commission's Eurostat office found that companies in many member countries are drawing significant revenues from e-commerce transactions, mainly within their own borders. Domestic transactions accounted for 83 per cent of e-commerce sales in the UK, for example.

Ireland reported the highest percentage of e-commerce sales, at 26 per cent, and was also among the highest in sales beyond its own borders, at nearly 40 per cent.

The study, which covered business IT use across Europe in 2008, also found that the overwhelming majority of businesses in Europe use the internet. Some 93 per cent of businesses in EU states have some sort of internet access, while 82 per cent now use a fixed broadband connection.

In the UK, 91 per cent of businesses have internet access, and 85 per cent have broadband connections.

Eurostat also reported that the use of radio frequency ID devices is on the up. Three per cent of European enterprises use some sort of RFID technology. Personal identification and access control applications were most popular, followed by inventory tracking, automated payment systems and anti-theft devices.