According to a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, an independent research institute, the British digital economy is 40% bigger than official statistics suggest.
The report shows that there are at least 270,000 digital companies in the UK, compared to the 120,000 estimated by the British government. Moreover, it finds that digital companies hire 15% more people than non-digital employers and that ever more companies in traditional sectors, such as architecture and manufacturing, rely on technology to run their businesses.
Instead of applying the 65 year-old Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities (SIC), the report uses new data provided by Growth Intelligence, a sales software company, to measure the business environment by tracking companies’ digital footprints online. According to the report, outdated SIC-based definitions of the digital economy overlook a large number of companies, meaning that thousands of them could miss vital support.
