MEDIA RELEASE
29 June 2015	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra Time)	75/2015

The Information Media and Telecommunications (IMT) industry generated $72.8 billion in sales and service income in 2013-14, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Internet related activities directly accounted for over a quarter ($19.7 billion) of this income.

Information Media and Telecommunications Services: Australia 2013-14, presents national estimates of employment and major economic and financial indicators for the IMT industry. Income and expenditure, performance measures, industry value added and capital expenditure are also measured as part of this publication.

"Key findings show the impact of the internet is changing business models," said Marie Apostolou of the ABS. "Income is increasingly being generated by internet driven products including online news sites, streamed media content, and internet applications hosted via cloud services."

Internet service providers, web search portals and data processing services represented the fastest growing subdivision of the industry, with sales and service income increasing 17.4 per cent between 2012-13 and 2013-14 ($4.3 billion to $5.0 billion).

Facilitating the expansion of internet based activities was the continued dominance of the Telecommunications services subdivision, accounting for almost 60 per cent of sales and service income, an increase of more than $300 million from the previous year.

Of the $14.3 billion invested in total capital expenditure by the IMT industry in 2013-14, almost 85 per cent of this is attributed to the Telecommunications services subdivision. Over half (53.7 per cent) of total IMT capital expenditure was invested in structures, buildings and dwellings, with businesses maintaining and upgrading infrastructure and assets to keep pace with technological advancements.

"Whilst telecommunications and internet related subdivisions were growing, a different story emerged for traditional media," said Ms Apostolou. "The Publishing subdivision experienced declining sales and service income of -7.3 per cent (from $10.5 billion in 2012-13 to $9.7 billion in 2013-14), whilst Broadcasting was flat ($9.7 billion in 2013-14)."

Further details can be found in Information Media and Telecommunications Services, Australia (cat. no. 8681.0) available for download from the ABS website - https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media notes

• Please note the IMT industry does not measure the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.
• The ABS and the Department of Communications are in the process of jointly undertaking a review of ICT statistics. For more information refer to Discussion Paper: Submission Process for the Information and Communications Technology Statistics Review, 2014-15 (cat. no. 8179.0.55.001).
• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
• Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070.