INS: Share of Internet users aged between 16 and 74 goes up 5.3pct in 2018

The share of Internet users aged between 16 and 74 went up in 2018 by 5.3 percentage points, compared to the previous year, their number reaching 11.7 million persons, according to a conjecture survey carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

Last year, most persons were current users, 89.7 percent of the persons between 16 and 74 years of age using the internet over the past 3 months before the survey, out of whim 75.5 percent used this instrument on a daily basis or almost daily, and 21.1 percent on a weekly basis.

According to the occupation status of the persons aged between 16 and 74, the highest share of daily or almost daily Internet users is registered among employees (60.5 percent), followed at a great distance by pupils/students (15.3 percent). The desire to have access to information is found both among men and women, however women lagging behind men in terms of Internet use (79.9 percent of the men and 77.9 percent of the women).

The largest share in daily or almost daily Internet use is held by men aged between 16 and 34 (47.6 percent), with a similar situation recorded among women, where the largest share is revealed in the same age category (45.2 percent). In terms of occupation status, the Internet was accessed on a daily basis by over 9 out of 10 pupils and students (97.3 percent) and by almost 1 out of 2 pensioners (48.6 percent). The gender distribution of the employees using the Internet on a daily or almost daily basis shows that women hold a lower share compared to that of men (57.4 percent against 63.5 percent).

According to development regions, the share of persons who have ever used the Internet was 93.6 percent in the Bucharest - Ilfov region, which represents the highest percentage in Romania, followed by the West region with 88.3 percent and the North-West region (83.9 percent). At the opposite side there are the South - Muntenia (71 percent) and the South-East (69.9 percent) regions.

The most used mobile devices for accessing the Internet were the mobile phone or smartphone, with a share of 86 percent. At a large distance there comes the PC with 50.3 percent. The gender distribution of persons reveals a 1.8 percent higher share of male persons in using the Internet through a mobile phone or smartphone, as against female persons (86.9 percent against 85.1 percent). By residence environments, there is an equal share (86 percent) of the persons having accessed the Internet through a mobile phone or smarphone, however big differences come up regarding the other devices, PC, laptop and tablet.

The difference between men and women in terms of accessing the Internet from other places than the home or the place of work, with the aid of mobile devices, is of 2.6 percentage points (82.7 percent compared to 80.1 percent). The most used mobile devices for accessing the Internet from other places than home or work were the mobile phone or smartphone with a share of 97.3 percent, followed at a great distance by the laptop (16.6 percent) and the tablet (10.9 percent). According to the training level, in 2018 more than half of the persons who accessed the Internet via mobile phones or smartphones have an average training level (60.4 percent).

The survey on the access to information and communications technology in households for 2018 was conducted as an annual survey, on a sample of 10,188 homes, according to the INS. AGERPRES (RO - author: Nicoleta Gherasi, editor: Constantin Balaban; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)