About the data
Definitions
Data sources
The global economy is undergoing an information revolution that will be as significant in effect as the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century. A sign of the importance of this revolution is the size of the global information sector, estimated at $1,425 billion in 1994.
This estimate, drawn from a number of data sources, covers:
Telecommunications services and equipment. Computer software, services, and equipment. Sound and television broadcasting and equipment. Audiovisual entertainment.
The global information sector thus defined is growing faster than the global economy. It also appears to be immune to economic downswings. While the global economy contracted by 3.3 percent in 1991, the information industry grew by 6 percent. The sector's contribution to global output is growing apace and stood at 5.9 percent in 1994.
These estimates notwithstanding, the economic impact of the information sector is difficult to measure. In statistical reporting the major industries involved in processing and distributing information—telecommunications, broadcasting, and computing—have traditionally been categorized under different subsectors. These classification differences can be overcome, but a far greater problem is that most national and international statistical agencies fail to adequately cover these subsectors. Statistical yearbooks have profuse data on agriculture, industry, and trade, but few data on services, let alone the information industry.
A further complication is that there are no agreed definitions on what constitutes the information industry. Should it include both services and equipment? Should it include industries that create and distribute nonelectronic information—such as publishing and postal services?
Some countries have taken steps toward measuring the impact of information industries more effectively. Industry Canada, Statistics Canada, and Canadian Heritage are undertaking a major revision of the classification system for industries. A new information technologies and telecommunications classification is proposed that combines telecommunications, broadcasting, and computer services as well as the consumer electronic, telecommunications equipment, and computer hardware industries. The reason for the revision is that, under current classifications, it is difficult to analyze the information technologies and telecommunications industry or to understand it clearly enough to develop programs and policies. Furthermore, the current classification system does not reflect the technological and regulatory changes that have taken place in information technologies and telecommunications industries. The proposed revisions are being coordinated with U.S. and Mexican statisticians to enhance comparability within the North American Free Trade Area.
In the absence of economic indicators, the table uses a number of proxy indicators to measure progress in the information age. Data covering radios are estimates of receivers in use and are obtained from statistical surveys carried out by UNESCO. They vary widely in reliability from country to country and should be used with caution. Estimates of television sets also vary in reliability. Some countries require that television sets be registered. To the extent that households do not register their television sets or do not register all of their television sets, the number of licensed sets may understate the true number.
Definitions
• Daily newspapers is the number of newspapers published at least four times a week, per 1,000 people.
• Radios is the estimated number of radio receivers in use for broadcasts to the general public, per 1,000 people.
• Television sets represent the estimated number of television sets in use, per 1,000 people.
• Mobile phones refers to users of portable telephones subscribing to an automatic public mobile telephone service using cellular technology that provides access to the public switched telephone network, per 1,000 people.
• Fax machines is the estimated number of facsimile machines connected to the public switched telephone network, per 1,000 people.
• Personal computers is of the estimated number of self-contained computers designed to be used by a single individual, per 1,000 people.
• Internet hosts is the number of computers directly connected to the worldwide network of interconnected computer systems, per 1,000 people. All hosts without a country identification are assumed to be located in the United States
Data covering newspapers and radios are from UNESCO, which compiles data mainly from official replies by member states to UNESCO questionnaires and special surveys, but also from official reports and publications, supplemented by information from national and international sources.
Data for the other indicators are from the annual questionnaire sent to member countries by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). These data are reported in the World Telecommunication Development Report or the Telecommunications Indicators database. The text also draws on ITU sources. Data on Internet hosts are from Network Wizards (http://www.nw.com,).
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