Pandemic affects intangible investments in various ways

The Covid-19 pandemic influenced companies' decisions to invest in intangible assets differently. In 12 EU countries, the share of these investments decreased in 2020 compared to 2019, the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) informed.

According to PIE, intangible assets – such as patents, intellectual property, employee skills, or management methods – increasingly constitute a competitive advantage in the modern economy. Meanwhile, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe spend less on this type of investment than the countries of Western Europe or the USA.

In 2020, companies from EU countries spent an average of 38 percent of capital expenditure on intangible assets. The largest share of this type of investment was in Ireland, Cyprus, and Denmark, the lowest – in Croatia (20 percent), Bulgaria (21 percent), Poland (22 percent), and Hungary (22 percent). Estonia was the leader of Central and Eastern Europe, with a share of 33 percent.

As analysts emphasize, investments in intangible assets are significantly related to the innovativeness of the economy, as well as to the productivity of enterprises or the growth of GDP in the entire economy. Limiting these investments will translate into the development opportunities of companies in the long term, as well as their competitiveness in the European market.

"In Poland, we diagnosed the low level of investments in intangible assets before the pandemic, and the pandemic itself did not become an impulse to modernize enterprises," the PIE said.

(PAP)