The number of Internet users that have made purchases over the web came to 157,900 a 9.3% increase in the fourth quarter of 2005

The presence of Information and Communications Technology equipment continues to spread in Basque households. The figure of the population aged 15 and over with Internet access at home grew in the last six months by almost 26,000 persons – 3.2%–, reaching almost 830,000 potential Internet users in the home, according to Eustat data. Thus, 45.1% of the population already have this equipment in the A.C. of the Basque Country.

Half of Basque families have a computer in the household and use of the computer among the population aged 15 and over came to 60.1% in the A.C. of the Basque Country, a 0.5 percent increase with regard to the second quarter of 2005.

Growth of access to a mobile phone in the household also continues, increasing by around 27,000 new potential users in the fourth quarter of 2005 –1.4 percent–. With regard to possession of this type of equipment, Alava has a higher than the Basque Country average, 90.9%, followed by Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, with 88.2% and 88%, respectively.

Increase in the number of families that Internet have access at home in the fourth quarter of 2005

Around 14,500 families more can access the Internet from their homes, 5.3% more than in the 2nd quarter of the year and 10% more than the same quarter the previous year.

Despite a higher presence of the Internet in homes, Internet users in the A.C. of the Basque Country fell in numbers by 7,700 persons during the fourth quarter of 2005, 0.4 percent fewer than in the second quarter, but almost two points more than in the fourth quarter of the previous year. With these figures, incorporation to the web reached 37.6% of the population aged 15 and over that have connected to the Internet over the last three months.

While the total number of Internet users fell in the fourth quarter of 2005, users between the age of 45 and 54 increased in number by 2,200, 1.2 percent more than in the second quarter of the year.

Internet users access the Internet mostly from their own homes

The percentage of Internet users that access the Internet from home, 75.8%, is one of the highest among Internet users in the whole of the State and, in the fourth quarter of 2005, grew 3 percent, while access fell from the workplace, centres of study and others.

Gipuzkoa continues to lead user rates with 40.2% of Internet users, followed by Álava with 38.2%. Bizkaia continues with the lowest rate, 35.9%. 41.6% of males connected to the Internet over the last three months, while 33.8% of females connected to the web over the same period. Young people, specifically those aged from 15 to 24, connect more often to the Internet, as almost four out of very five young people of this age connected over the last three months.

The percentage of Internet users that use Basque to surf the web remained stable during the fourth quarter of 2005

20% of Internet users used Basque to surf the web over the fourth quarter of 2005.

A fall by more than 5 minutes in the average length of the last connection was observed, as it fell from 51.2 minutes in the second quarter of 2005 to 46 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The percentage of electronic commerce users reached 22.8% of Internet users at the end of 2005

Although Internet purchases are usually concentrated in the first six months of the year, the figure of Internet users that made a purchase on the Internet over the last three reference months grew by 9.3%, rising from 144,500 in the second quarter of 2005 to 157,900 in the fourth quarter of 2005. This last figure is 63,200 more Internet purchases than the figure for the same quarter the previous year and represents 66.7% annual growth.

This increase in Internet purchases may be linked, among other reasons, to the perceived safety in Internet payments, as three in four Internet users felt very or quite safe when making payment on the Internet and only 4.6% felt no safety at all when purchasing on the Internet.

With regard to the most common products or services purchased on the web, we must stress that three in four buyers on the Internet contracted holiday travel or accommodation–76.1%–, 30.4% purchased tickets for shows and 25.9% bought books or magazines.