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Published: 7 November 2013

Over one-quarter of persons aged 75 to 89 use the Internet

The use of the Internet is becoming ever more widespread. Among the population aged 16 to 89, 85 per cent use the Internet. Among those aged 75 to 89, 27 per cent are Internet users. Their number has grown annually by tens of per cent. Finns use the Internet most for everyday matters, information search and communication. In the past three months, 44 per cent of the population had made online purchases or placed online orders. The media is also commonly followed on the Internet

Prevalence of Internet usage and certain purposes of use in 2013

	Used the Internet in the past 3 months	Uses the Internet usually several times a day	Used Internet banking in the past 3 months	Bought over the Internet in the past 3 months	Followed some social network service in the past 3 months	Sent a filled-in form to an authority or public service provider in the past 3 months	Watched broadcasting companies' web television services in the past 3 months	Has a smartphone in own use
	Percentage share of population
Aged 16-24	100	76	78	55	87	42	75	80
Aged 25-34	100	88	98	70	78	62	81	81
Aged 35-44	99	80	98	69	67	63	75	74
Aged 45-54	97	67	92	52	41	44	64	59
Aged 55-64	85	52	80	29	26	34	51	45
Aged 65-74	65	33	55	16	13	21	37	25
Aged 75-89	27	8	22	3	3	5	12	5
Men	88	65	80	45	44	43	60	60
Women	83	57	77	44	49	40	58	51
Total 16–89	85	61	79	44	47	41	59	56
Total 16–74	92	66	84	49	51	45	64	61

An ever growing number of people in Finland are Internet users. The share among the population aged 16 to 74 that had used the Internet in the past three months rose by two percentage points in 2013, to 92 per cent. The growth continues mainly among the older age groups because nearly everyone under the age of 55 already use the Internet.

This appears from Statistics Finland's survey on use of information and communications technology. In 2013, the upper age limit of the survey sample was raised from 74 to 89 years. Among the entire population aged 16 to 89, 85 per cent used the Internet.

Among the oldest age group, those aged 75 to 89, 27 per cent were Internet users. The number of mobile phones have quickly increased in the oldest age group, only one in seven does not have a mobile phone. By contrast, only five per cent of persons aged 75 to 89 have a smartphone, while 56 per cent of the whole population have one.

Among European countries, Internet use is more widespread than in Finland only in other Nordic countries, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The Internet is most commonly used for everyday matters, communication, information search and following media. The most common use was online banking, which 79 per cent of those aged 16 to 89 had done in the past three months. In the past three months, 44 per cent of the population had made online purchases or placed online orders. However, the growth of online shopping has slowed down. People also use the Internet a lot to handle matters with authorities and access public services. Altogether, 47 per cent of the population had sent a filled-in form on the Internet to authorities or other public service providers.

In total, 77 per cent of Finns had used email. More than one-third of Finns send or read email every day or nearly every day. Social network services are also mainly used for communication. The share of the population that follows social network services increased by two percentage points to 51 per cent.

The Internet is used widely to follow the media. As many as 59 per cent of Finns aged 16 to 89 had watched broadcasting companies' web television services in the past three months in 2013. All in all, 60 per cent had watched Youtube and other similar video services to which people can upload their own videos.

Source: Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Rauli Kohvakka 09 1734 3448, Perttu Melkas 09 1734 2511, tietoyhteiskunta.info@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Updated 7.11.2013