Despite a regular and significant increase during the last decade, Internet usage continues to vary widely across OECD countries and among social groups. In 2018, 97% and above of the adult population accessed the Internet in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway, but 65% did so in Mexico ( 8.13). Differences in Internet uptake are linked primarily to age and education, often intertwined with income levels.
In most countries, Internet uptake by young people is nearly universal, but there are wide differences for older generations. On average across the OECD, over 97% of 16‐24 year-olds used the Internet in 2018 compared to about 67% of 55-74 year-olds. The Internet usage rate among 16-24 year-olds is nearing 100% in most OECD countries, except in Mexico and Turkey (90%), Israel and the United States (85‐87%). By contrast, Internet usage among 55-74 year-olds is still very heterogeneous across countries: above 90% in Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway but only 40% in Greece, 31% in Turkey and 28% in Mexico.
Most of online time is devoted to instant messaging and social networking. In countries for which data are available, people aged 14 and above spent more than three hours per day on the Internet in 2016, whereas the duration increases to 4.5 hours a day among young people (aged 14-24) ( 8.14). The age gap is even higher in countries where people use the Internet more extensively, such as the Netherlands, Sweden or Portugal. Constant connectivity is changing attitudes and behaviour in people’s personal life, with the transfer of part of social relations online and the blurring of work and leisure time.
More than one in ten adolescents across the OECD report having been the victim of cyberbullying, either by message or by picture ( 8.15). The highest cyberbullying rates in OECD countries are found in Latvia (almost one in four), as well as in Estonia, Hungary, Ireland and the United Kingdom (Scotland), where more than one in five adolescents report cyberbullying. The lowest rate is in Greece, with only five percent of adolescents report having been victim to cyberbullying.
The digital space can also introduces new risks and stress sources into young people’s lives. Just as with traditional forms of bullying, exposure to cyber-bullying – for instance, the rapid creation and sharing of offensive messages or comments, spreading of rumours, exclusion of victims from online groups and other forms of harassment – is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes, including depressive symptoms, substance use, ideation and suicide attempts (OECD Brief Children & Young People’s Mental Health in the Digital Age, Shaping the Future).
Teenage girls are more likely than teenage boys to report having been victim to cyberbullying. The gender difference is especially large in Ireland and the United Kingdom, where cyberbullying rates for girls exceed those for boys by more than 10 percentage points. Only in Spain, boys report higher rates of cyber-bullying than girls, by 3 percentage points.
