Press Release 20/09/2016
Three out of every four people are Internet users in the Basque Country
There was a significant increase in usage among people aged 55 and over
The number of Internet users aged 15 and over in the Basque Country stood at 1,370,800 in the first quarter of 2016, 74.1% of the overall Basque population in this age group, according to data prepared by Eustat. Compared to the same period in the previous year this percentage was up 2.4 percentage points.
Bizkaia was the province with the greatest increase in the percentage of users (2.9 percentage points), and occupied second place in the Basque Country. Álava remained in first place, where 76.0% of people were internet users and where there had been an increase of 2.4 points with respect to the same period of the previous year. Gipuzkoa, for its part, came in third place, with 73.3% of the population aged 15 and over being Internet users, following an increase of 1.4 points.
Regarding the three Basque capitals, Vitoria-Gasteiz, with 76.0% of individuals aged 15 and over who were Internet users, took first place, followed by Bilbao, with a percentage of 72.7%, whilst Donostia-San Sebastián was in third position, with 72.1% of the population connected to the Internet.
At the regional level, Plentzia-Mungia (78.7%) in Bizkaia, Estribaciones del Gorbea (78.4%) in Álava and Urola Costa (75.4%) in Gipuzkoa were the areas with the greatest percentage of population who used the Internet in the three provinces. On the other hand, Montaña Alavesa (70.2%) in Álava, Bajo Deba (71.8%) in Gipuzkoa, and Markina-Ondarroa (73.1%) in Bizkaia were the regions that registered the lowest percentages of Internet users in their respective provinces.
In terms of age, practically the whole of the population of young people in the Basque Country between the ages of 15 and 24 (99.0%) were Internet users. The increase of 7.2 percentage points in users in the 55-64 age group is worthy of a mention, followed by that for individuals aged between 45 and 54, which rose by 5.8 points.
The gender gap amongst the population that use the Internet decreased slightly
The so-called gender gap, which in 2015 stood at 8.3 percentage points, decreased to 5.9 points in the first quarter of 2016. Thus, with respect to the population aged 15 and over, male Internet users represented 77.1% of the male population, whereas female users accounted for 71.2% of the female population. The total number of Internet users for the year in progress was divided into two equal halves: 50.2% were men and 49.8% were women.
In relation to activity, 99.2% of the student population were Internet users, whereas amongst the population in work this figure stood at 94.2%, and amongst inactive and unemployed individuals it stood at 46.9%. The greatest increase with respect to 2015 occurred amongst inactive and unemployed people (4.4 percentage points).
The preferred location for accessing the Internet continued to be the private home, with 97.3% of users connecting from their houses. Internet access from work centres and other places saw slight decreases of 3.5 and 1.3 points, respectively. Access from education centres, for its part, remained unchanged compared to the first quarter of the previous year.
The percentage of Internet users who acquired any kind of goods or services through this method in the first quarter of 2016 was 46.7%, equivalent to a total of 624,900 people. This figure accounts for 33.8% of the Basque population aged 15 and over.
The amount of ICT equipment in Basque homes continues to increase
In the first quarter of 2016, 70.1% of households in the Basque Country had a computer. This percentage is slightly lower (0.5 points) than the previous year. The proportion of the population aged 15 and over with a computer at home stood at 77.3%.
As regards Internet access, more than 646,000 families, or 74.1%, had this service in their homes, with 40,000 new families (3.9 points) compared to the same period of 2015. In turn, the population aged 15 and over with home Internet access was up by 65,000 (3.2 points) since the first quarter of 2015, and stood at 81.2%.
For its part, the mobile telephone was present in 94.8% of households. If we refer to the population aged 15 and over, the percentage with a mobile telephone rises to 96.8%.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on Survey on the information society. Families
Databank on Information Survey on the information society. Families