Since 1993 EITO's annual reports have tracked relative investment in information and communication technologies (ICTs). Europe approximately matches Japan, but the USA has consistently shown a much higher propensity to buy and use ICTs. In 1998 Europe invested about 2.5% of GDP in ICTs, compared with 4.5% in the USA. Because average local costs for computers and telecommunications have usually been lower in the USA than in Europe, while per capita GDP is higher, the gap in acquisition and use of technologies is even larger than the percentage spend suggests. Annual ICT spending per capita shows a similar gap.