In 2018, 86% of individuals aged 16-74 years in the OECD area were Internet users and 77% used the Internet on a daily basis following a sustained rise in adoption from about 58% accessing the Internet, and 36% daily users in 2006. Internet usage tends to be less ubiquitous outside the OECD, with fewer than 60% of individuals accessing the Internet in Brazil, China and South Africa, and less than 40% in India and Indonesia. Mobile technology has played a particularly important role in driving Internet uptake, with 70% of OECD users accessing the Internet via mobile devices. In the EU28, the share of households choosing not to have Internet access at home because “access was not needed” (i.e. content was not useful or not interesting) dropped from 20% in 2006 to 6% in 2017.
Internet usage continues to vary widely across OECD countries and among social groups. In 2018, over 97% of individuals aged 16-74 used the Internet in Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Luxembourg but only around 70% did so in Mexico and Turkey. In Indonesia and India, the share was around 30%. In Chile, Korea and Iceland almost all Internet users access the Internet daily but such frequent use is less common in Japan and Poland.
The types of activities carried out over the Internet vary widely across countries, linked to diverse institutional, cultural and economic factors, including age and educational attainment. Internet usage for more sophisticated activities also varies by country and is impacted by factors such as familiarity with online services, trust, and skills. In all OECD countries, one of the main online activities is participation in social networks, although online shopping is even more popular in some countries such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and markedly so in Germany, Switzerland, and France. In nearly all countries, the share of online purchasers in 2018 was higher than in 2010. The increase was notable in countries with a lower uptake at the beginning of the period such as Mexico.
The number and complexity of the activities individuals undertake online can give an indication of their sophistication as Internet users. The indicator presented here is derived from individual micro-data made available by Eurostat for countries in the European Statistical System (ESS). In 2016, in a majority of countries included in the sample, over half of individuals made “diversified and complex use” of the Internet including activities linked to e-finance, learning and creativity (e.g. uploading of creative content). However, less than 40% of individuals engaged in such activities in Poland and Italy. These cross-country disparities in diversified and complex use shed light on a digital divide in terms of Internet uses, despite access to the Internet progressively becoming universal.
