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Published: 27 April 2009

Changes in Internet Usage. Results from the 2008 Survey on ICT Usage

In spring 2008, 83 per cent of people between the ages of 16 and 74 in Finland said they had used the Internet during the three months prior to the survey. The share had gone up by four percentage points from the previous year. Internet is also used regularly and often. As many as 80 per cent of its users said they did it daily or almost daily. Only five per cent had used the Internet monthly or less often. The daily use largely also applies to elderly people. As many as 60 per cent of the people aged between 65 and 74 who had used the web in the past three months said that they were daily users. Daily use is also widespread among the whole population. In 2008, the share of daily Internet users was 66 per cent among the total population aged between 16 and 74.

Internet Use in Europe

Computers and online connections continue to grow increasingly widespread in European homes. Nearly 90 per cent of homes in some European countries, like the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, had a computer and were online in spring 2008. In these countries further penetration is now slow as they are approaching saturation point. By contrast, penetration has been fast in some other countries, such as Spain, Romania and Slovakia.

An ever growing number of people in Europe are also Internet users. In 2008, the share of the whole population having used the web in the past three months went up by five percentage points from the previous year in the EU countries and was 62 per cent.

Newspapers and online magazines

Reading online magazines is one of the most widespread purposes of Internet use. More than half of the whole population aged between of 16 and 74 and around 70 per cent of Internet users read online magazines. The most avid readers are young adults between the ages of 25 and 44. By contrast, subscribing to online magazines is not very common. Nearly all over the age of 45 read newspapers very regularly. Young people read printed papers less than other age groups.

Online banking

The use of online banking for the payment of bills and for other banking transactions has widened in recent years. In 2008, 87 per cent of Internet users and 72 per cent of the whole population aged between 16 and 74, in other words around 2.8 million persons, used online banking services. In 2004, half of the population did so. In 1998, under 0.5 million people in Finland had used online banking services. The management of banking affairs online is not really tied to age among Internet users, for 80 per cent of even the 60-74 age group banked online.

Web participation

Twenty-nine per cent of the whole population aged between 16 and 74 had followed political development via the web. It was most widespread among youngish, well-educated persons living in the capital region or large towns. Even among them the share of those having done so was around one-half. Only about one in ten of those who follow political development via the Internet participate in political debate.

These data derive from the report Changes in Internet Usage, compiled from the results of the 2008 Survey on ICT Usage. The report examines the prevalence and purposes of computer and Internet use, web participation, reading of newspapers and online magazines, Internet and changes in modes of communication, accessibility of services in the information society, and banking via the Internet. The Survey on ICT Usage is harmonised within the European Union. It is conducted in all Member States of the European Union, as well as in certain other European countries.

Source: Internetin käytön muutokset. Tieto- ja viestintätekniikan käyttö 2008 tutkimuksen tuloksia. Tilastokeskus. (Changes in Internet Usage. Results from the 2008 Survey on ICT Usage. Statistics Finland)

Inquiries: Mr Rauli Kohvakka +358 9 1734 3448, Mr Timo Sirkiä +358 9 1734 2622 , tietoyhteiskunta.info@tilastokeskus.fi

Director in charge: Ms Riitta Harala

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Last updated 27.4.2009