By Kalen Smith, Big4.com Blogger

According to a recent study from Deloitte, Facebook provides more than £12.7 billion to the economy of the European Union. Deloitte’s estimate factors in increased sales, jobs and value added to the brands of businesses across the continent.

After examining Facebook’s impact on the EU economy, analysts have found that most of the benefits are the result of increased business participation, improved efficiency and increased technology sales. This indicates that GDP of the EU will continue to increase if more businesses use Facebook as a platform to increase sales and efficiency.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operations Officer, announced the social networking site’s commitment to growing small and medium businesses and adding value to the EU economy. Sandberg said Facebook will give £4.2 million in free advertising to SMEs.

Sandberg reported that the company intends to reach 50,000 small and medium companies across five countries in the EU. Facebook will provide each company with £80 in advertising credits.

In addition to helping these businesses expand their marketing reach, the free ads will help Facebook find new advertisers. Facebook estimates that thousands of new advertisers will likely start using the social networking site to promote their services.

Facebook also intends to participate in new campaigns to help students develop programming and other IT skills.

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