SURVEY RESULTS: INNOVATION IN CYPRIOT ENTERPRISES 2002 - 2004

On the basis of the results of the Innovation Survey carried out by the Statistical Service among enterprises with 10 or more employees, 46,1% of enterprises had some form of innovation activity during the period 2002-2004. Among industrial enterprises, this proportion stood at 53,2% compared to 37,9% in the services sector. The corresponding figures recorded in the previous similar survey which referred to the period 2000-2002 were 48,4% for the total, 50,6% for industry and 46,1% for services. With regard to the size-class breakdown, the larger the enterprise the more likely it was to have had some form of innovation activity during the enterprises with 50-249 employees and 81,5% for enterprises with 250 and more employees. According to 64,7% of all enterprises with innovation activity, innovation had a high impact on improving their production flexibility. About 56,8% reported a high impact on increasing their production capacity, 46,8% on meeting regulatory requirements, 29,8% on reducing environmental impacts or improving health and safety, 29,7% on improving the quality of their goods and services, 27,0% on reducing labour costs per unit output, 26,6% on increasing the range of their goods or services and 17,1% on entering new markets or increasing their market share. Among enterprises with no innovation activity, the main factors declared as having a high degree of impact on hampering innovation were the high costs (26,6%), the lack of funds within the enterprise (21,0%), the lack of finance from sources outside the enterprise (14,7%), the lack of qualified personnel (16,1%) and others.

STATISTICAL SUBTHEME: INNOVATION