Thirty-five years of information and communication services - the software boom

In 2014, the value added of ICT activities reached 93 billion Euros. The sector accounted for 4.4% of French GDP, up from 3.5% in 1980. This growth has been driven by investment in software and internet services. In 2014 this investment was worth 54 billion Euros, equivalent to 15.6% of total investment by businesses and government. The huge expansion of communications technologies has also played a driving role here, thanks to the rise of the internet and successive generations of increasingly sophisticated mobile telephones. Households have been won over by such personalised services, at the expense of traditional publications. Of the top five European economies, it is in the United Kingdom that ICT activities account for the highest proportion of GDP (5.4%).