Internet usage continues to rise: 86% of Maltese used it in last three months

Internet usage in Malta has continued to rise, with 86 per cent of all Maltese between the ages of 16 and 74 reporting having used it over the course of the three months prior to when they were asked in 2019, data published by Eurostat shows.

The percentage places Malta very close to the EU average – which stands at 87 per cent – and continues the trend that the island has seen in internet usage since 2007, when this data started being measured.

Eurostat, which is the European Union’s statistics body, traced internet usage across the EU and European Economic Area, finding that internet usage ranged from 98 per cent in Sweden to 68 per cent in Bulgaria.

Romania was second lowest, registering 74 per cent, while Mediterranean countries such as Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Croatia all registered below 80 per cent internet usage as well. At the other end of the spectrum, the statistics show that the further north one goes, the more the rate increases.

Iceland – in the EEA – registered a rate of 99 per cent, while Sweden and Norway (also in the EEA) both registered 98 per cent. Denmark registered a rate of 97 per cent, as did Switzerland, followed by Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom which all registered 96 per cent internet usage. Finland registered one per cent less.

In Malta’s case, the 2019 score of 86 per cent represents the highest ever share of individuals regularly using the internet ever recorded since the data started being gathered, with the share having almost doubled since 2007.

In 2007 in fact, only 45 per cent reported having used the internet in the previous three months from when the survey was taken compared to an EU average of 57 per cent. By 2013, the Maltese share had risen to 69 per cent compared to an EU average of 75 per cent, and the share has continued to rise ever since.

Eurostat also delved into specific uses for the internet, drawing up a profile for each country’s general internet usage patterns.

At an EU level in fact, Eurostat wrote that “the internet was used mainly to send/receive emails (75%), to find information about goods and services (68%), for instant messaging (67%) and online news (63%).”

“A majority of people also used the internet to use banking facilities (58%), to participate in social networks (57%), to look for health information (55%), for listening to music (53%) and telephoning or video calls (52%),” Eurostat wrote.

In Malta’s case, the most popular uses for the internet somewhat reflect the general continent-wide trends as explained above, although they are not necessarily in the same order.

Instant messaging was found to be the most popular use, with 75 per cent of individuals reporting using the internet for this in the previous six months. This was followed by searching for information about goods and services (72%), participating in social networks (71%), following online news (70%), and sending and receiving e-mails (69%).

The most significant difference is in the social networks category, where Malta’s share of 71 per cent put it within the upper range of the countries in this category. That share is 14 per cent above the EU average.

At the other end of the spectrum the categories which attracted the smallest share of Maltese individuals were for uploading self-created content (33%), selling goods or services (30%), and online learning activities (24%).

These are the three lowest categories in terms of the EU average as well: uploading self-created content registered a continental average of 30 per cent, selling goods or services of 20 per cent, and online learning activities of 23 per cent.