Pandemic forced firms to innovate

The ratio of companies investing in innovation, developing new products and adopting technologically advanced business methods registered a significant increase during the 2018-20 period, according to the statistical survey of the National Center for Documentation and Electronic Content, whose data is sent to the European Statistical Service (Eurostat).

During the three years under review, compared to the immediately preceding period, the percentage of innovative businesses which introduced new or improved products increased by 12.3 percentage points and amounted to 72.6%.

The increase in the rate is attributed to the procedures adopted by Greek businesses due to the new economic and social conditions brought about by the pandemic in 2020, with the biggest improvement recorded by the service sector. In that specific sector, the percentage of innovative businesses was 72.9% compared to approximately 59% in the period immediately before (2016-18).

The highest percentage rates of innovative businesses are recorded in the sectors of “financial and insurance activities” (78.9%) and “information and communication” (78.4%).