Analysis
Sharing Economy
Wealth without Ownership
Sharing Economy is an up-and-coming and innovative industry, although its share in the Czech GDP now only ranges between 0.02% and 0.04%. In respect of the nominal GDP of 2017 (Deloitte’s estimate), it amounts to CZK 0.9 – 2 billion. For comparison, in the United Kingdom, where the relative size of sharing economy is the largest out of the examined countries, its size is between 0.09% and 0.19%.
In any case, this form of economy has a potential for growth, as evidenced for example by figures from the automotive industry – while in 2012 there were nine shared cars available in the Czech Republic from four primary providers in more than ten cities, five years later the number of cars was 344. A similar trend can be observed in the film industry, where the importance of streaming increases every year. To give an example, the number of subscribers to the Netflix streaming services has grown at an average rate of 32% per year since 2011.
The Czech music market is experiencing trends similar to the US and music sharing (streaming) is growing dynamically – by 14% year-on-year in 2016.
It seems that representatives of the traditional economy will not be able to avoid gradual integration of sharing economy principles in their working models in the future. Its boom could limit the demand for durable goods – for example, car manufacturers will probably face lower demand for their vehicles due to the increasing popularity of carsharing.
Sharing Economy - Wealth without Ownership
Legislation is necessary
Just like any change, the sharing economy phenomenon entails risks, consisting in the frequently discussed semi-legal way of its operation. A continuation of this system could limit the potential of the sharing economy, and it is becoming evident that special legislation will have to be prepared. A reasonable strategy for sharing economy companies could involve actively proposing self-regulation methods that could increase trust in this type of economy.
What is the experts’ view of taxation in the context of a sharing economy? What is their opinion on the issues regarding UBER? Would you like to find out more? Download our study (PDF, 0.8 MB) of the sharing economy in Czech.
Contact
David Marek
dmarek@deloittece.com
Deloitte’s Chief Economist
Václav Franče
vfrance@deloittece.com
Deloitte Economics & Statistics team
Edita Bolková
ebolkova@deloittece.com
Deloitte Legal