11. Oct 2024
Faroese firms among Europe’s most innovative

Statistics Faroe Islands is publishing statistics on innovation for the first time in collaboration with Research Council Faroe Islands. The figures are compiled in accordance with methods used by Eurostat and the Oslo Manual for Innovation.

These statistics will be published every two years to identify and analyse emerging trends.

58% of companies innovate

Companies that innovate offer a new product or service. They may also have developed or are in the process of developing a new product, service or new work procedures. Innovation also includes companies that have carried out or purchased research and development. 

The main figure used to measure innovation activity is the proportion of companies that innovate. In the 2020-2022 period, 58% of Faroese companies with ten or more employees innovated. This is the second-highest figure in the Nordics. In Finland, 61.5% of companies innovated, in Sweden 57.6%, in Norway 50.5%, in Iceland 48% and in Denmark 46.0%.

Faroese companies also did well in a European context in 2020-2022. The proportion of companies that innovate varies greatly across Europe, ranging from below 10% in Romania to above 60% Greece, Germany and Finland. The Faroese score of 58% is near the top.

These figures cover the period when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The graph below also includes the period leading up to the pandemic. It is noteworthy that innovation rates declined in many European countries when the pandemic hit. Since the first report on innovation in the Faroese covers the 2020-2022 period, it is not possible to compare the Faroese figures for both periods.

"When comparing data between countries, the industries ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ and ‘Administrative and support service activities’ should not be included. When these industries are included, the share of Faroese companies that innovate remains unchanged."

Tá samanborið verður millum lond skulu vinnugreinarnar A Landbúnaður, skógrøkt og fiskiveiða, I Gisting og matstovuvinna og N Umsitingarligar o.l. tænastuveitingar ikki teljast við. Tá hesar vinnugreinarnar eru taldar við, er parturin av føroyskum fyritøkum, sum nýskapa, tó óbroyttur.

Two industries make up 80% of innovation expenditures in 2022

Faroese companies spent a total of DKK 546 million on innovation.

Two industries in particular made substantial investments on innovation and thus represent most of the expenditures. These are ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’ and ‘Information and communication’, which accounted for 80% of total expenditure on innovation.

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More than half introduced new work procedures 

Companies that innovate offer new products and services or implement new work procedures internally. 

More than half of the companies surveyed in 2020-2022 have introduced new work procedures. These new procedures mainly revolve around streamlining internal processes and building external partnerships. Many companies also developed work procedures regarding areas of responsibility, decision hierarchy and general human resources practices.

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Just over 20% of the surveyed companies offer their customers new products or services – 17% provided new products and 14% provided new services.

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More statistics on innovation are available in the statbank. The figures include details on funding, collaboration and the environmental impact of innovation.