Internet use at least once a week by 90+% of the population in Cyprus

More than 90% of the population (94.4%) in Cyprus uses the internet at least once a week, a special survey conducted by CySTAT during the period April-June 2024 has shown.

According to CYSTA, the purpose of the survey, which, as noted, covered 1,838 households with at least one member aged 16-74 and a total of 3,763 people between those ages, was to collect data on the access to selected Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the use of the internet, use of e-government, e-commerce, internet of things and green ICT.

As stated, internet use decreases with age, starting from 99.9% for the 16-24 age group to 83.3% for the 55-74 age group, while persons with high educational attainment level use the internet more frequently (99.6%) than persons with low educational attainment level (76.8%)

It is added that most popular internet activities by individuals during the first quarter of 2024 were instant messaging via Skype, Messenger, WhatsApp and Viber (97.3%), making calls over the internet (97.2%), finding information about goods or services (94.3%), participating in social networks like Facebook and Twitter (91,8%) and watching video content from sharing services (91.3%).

In addition, 10.3% of those who used the internet in the first quarter of 2024 used online educational materials, 10% took an online course, and 9.7% communicated with educators or learners using audio or video online tools.

e-Government

According to the Statistical Service, during the period April 2023 to March 2024, 70.6% of individuals aged 16-74 years, obtained information from public authorities online, 54% accessed information stored about them by public authorities or public services and 22.8% accessed information from public databases or registers.

e-commerce

Similarly, the proportion of individuals aged 16-74 years old placing online orders during the first quarter of 2024 increased significantly to 63.6% compared to 55.3% in the corresponding period of 2023.

Most popular categories of goods/services ordered online were the following: clothes (including sport clothing), shoes or accessories (85.3%), deliveries or pick up from restaurants, fast-food chains (78.8%), computers, mobile phones or accessories (53.4%) and cosmetics, beauty or wellness products (33.4%).

It is added that among the people who bought or ordered goods or services for private use in the first quarter of 2024, 46.5% bought accommodation services, 45.5% bought transport services and 33.2% bought tickets to events.

(Source: CNA)