Western European Vertical Markets: Benchmarking IT Against GDP and Total Employment in 2010

This IDC study provides an analysis of Western European vertical market indicators aimed at understanding the structure, size, and economic importance on a country level of all major Western European industry sectors.

The focus is on GDP contribution of vertical markets to total GDP on a country level and employment numbers by vertical market in the 16 Western European countries in 2010. To assess IT sophistication and efficiency, the study presents IT/GDP and IT/employee ratios by vertical market in the 16 Western European countries.

Vertical markets covered include agriculture, construction, mining; discrete manufacturing; process manufacturing; transport; communications; utilities; retail/wholesale; finance; central and local government; healthcare; education; business services; and other services.

"The Western European economic region is characterized by diversities and fragmentation. The recession further deepened country differences, making it even more important to gain a clear understanding of country differences from a vertical market perspective in order to build an effective IT planning strategy," said Nina Bonagura, senior research analyst, European Vertical Markets, IDC.