The Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) has released statistical data on access to and use of the Internet in the 27 Member States the European Union (EU) and in Iceland, Norway, Croatia, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. The data was prepared based on surveys of individuals and of households with at least one person, aged between 16 and 74 years.
The figures show that over three quarters of households have Internet access at home (76 percent). The proportion of households which now have a broadband Internet connection (72 percent) has increased by 11 percentage points compared to 2010.
In Portugal, the percentage of households with broadband Internet access was reported below the EU average (60 versus 72 percent), with the difference also widening in 2010 (50 versus 61 percent).
According to Eurostat's findings, internet connections in Portuguese homes lag the EU average (61 versus 76 percent), increasing the difference reported in the 2010 survey (54 versus 70 percent).
The countries with the highest percentages of Internet connection are currently the Netherlands (94 percent) and Luxembourg (93 percent), while the lowest percentages were observed in Bulgaria (51 percent), Greece and Romania (54 percent). At European level, the same study reveals that, in the 16 to 24 age group, the proportion of respondents who access the Internet on mobile devices is now higher than the proportion accessing the Internet using laptops (47 versus 40 percent).
Portugal is sixth in the ranking of European countries with the highest percentage of population excluded from using the Internet, along with Italy, Cyprus, Poland and Lithuania.
About three-fifths of Internet users shop online and, of these, about a quarter buy goods and services in other Member States, while Portugal remains one of the countries where consumer participation in e-commerce is lowest.
Consult:
- Internet use in households and by individuals in 2012 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1150903
