Press release 30/09/2021

INFORMATION SOCIETY SURVEY. FAMILIES. 2021

Communication with others and searching for information were the most frequently used services by the Basque internet user population, which stood at 84.9% in 2021

52.4% of households had pay-TV, 91,100 more families than the previous year

The number of internet users aged 15 and over in the Basque Country, that is, individuals who connected to the internet in the last three months, whether at home, in the workplace, place of study or elsewhere, stood at 1,602,600 in 2021, accounting for 84.9% of the overall Basque population in this age group, according to Eustat data. This percentage was up 2.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

As in previous years, the internet user population increased the most among those aged 65 and over (+7.3 percentage points); almost half of the population in this group (49.3%) were internet users in 2021. Despite this, figures for this age range were far removed from the other age groups, all of which saw figures greater than 90%, particularly the under-45s, where nearly the entire population were already internet users.

According to gender, men using the internet represented 87.2% of the male population, while women users accounted for 82.8% of the female population. The gender gap stood at 4.4 percentage points in 2021, almost one point more than in the same period of 2020. The widening of this gap or difference is consistent with the different trend in internet use among men and women aged 65 and over (54.0% and 45.9%, respectively), with the difference being 8.1 percentage points in 2021 compared to 6.3 in 2020.

Álava was the province with the highest percentage of internet users (87%) in the Basque Country, after registering an increase of 2.5 points in respect of the same period of the previous year. Bizkaia saw the same increase with regard to 2020 (+2.5 points), with 84.2% of the population who were internet users. Lastly, Gipuzkoa experienced more modest growth in the last year (+1.9 points) to reach 85.1%, coming in second place in the Basque Country.

The three Basque capitals took the same positions as their provinces: Vitoria-Gasteiz remained the capital with the highest proportion of internet user population (87%), followed by San Sebastián (84.2%) and Bilbao (83.8%). At regional level, the differences in the percentage of users were close to around 5 percentage points between the highest value in Estribaciones del Gorbea (88%) and the lowest in Markina-Ondarroa (83.7%).

Internet use increased most among inactive and unemployed people

In relation to activity, practically the entire student population (99.7%) were internet users, followed by people in work (98.7%) and, finally, the inactive and unemployed population (65.6%) which, despite being the group that displayed the greatest increase (5.2 points) compared to the previous period, stood far removed from the others with differences of more than 33 percentage points.

The preferred language for web browsing was Spanish (98.3%), followed by Basque (23.1%) and English (17.1%). The usual location continued to be the private home, with 98.3% of users connecting from their houses.

The internet was used more to communicate with others and search for information

46.5% of the Basque population bought goods and services online in the last three months, 1.3 percentage points higher than in 2020; this represented 54.7% of the internet user population in this same period.

The services used most by people online were those associated with communication and access to information, such as WhatsApp and other similar mobile apps, regardless of internet users’ age, sex and occupation, at over 93% in every case. The people who used these apps the least were aged 65 and over (93.5% of users), which accounted for 46.1% of the total population of this age group, 6.8 percentage points more than the previous year. The following services also stood out: receiving or sending email (82.4%), reading news stories, newspapers or current affairs magazines (74.9%) and searching for information on goods and services (63.3%).

As regards services related to travel and accommodation, there was a significant drop (-31.3 points), going from 47.9% in 2020 to 16.6% in the first quarter of 2021, due to the impact of COVID-19 on mobility in Basque society, particularly among the internet user population aged between 25 and 44 (39.4 percentage points down). On the other hand, calls and video calls via the internet, which were used by 59.9% of the internet user population, was the service that saw the biggest rise (19.4 points higher).

There were differences in the online services used by men and women

Among the online services used, 64.5% of women made telephone or video calls via the internet (9.3 points more than men), 52.3% of women used services related to health, such as searching for information on health issues (8.8 percentage points more than men), and 17% of women took online courses (+6.3 points). Meanwhile, 31.9% of men played or downloaded games (+5.5 points), 70.8% watched more video sharing content (+5 points) and 77.1% of men read news stories, newspapers or current affairs magazines (+4.2 points).

There were also differences by gender in terms of e-commerce: 77.5% of women bought sports equipment and clothing (8.8 percentage points more than men) and 29.4% of women bought books, magazines or newspapers (+4.1 points). For their part, 43.7% of men purchased electronic equipment (16.4 points more than women), 29.8% purchased computer equipment (+10.7 points) and 13.6% of men purchased computer/console games and their updates (+9.8 points).

The proportion of the population that used a computer in the last three months was 67.5%. In this regard, men using computers represented 72% of the male population, compared to 63.3% of women, with the gender gap standing at 8.7 percentage points, 0.8 percentage points more than in 2020.

Family characteristics influenced the ICT equipment in households

With regard to internet access, in the first quarter of 2021, 788,000 families, 87.4%, had this service in their homes, an increase of 24,200 families (+2.3 points) compared to the same period of the previous year. In population terms, 92.1% of people aged 15 and over (1,738,100) were able to access the internet from their home.

Moreover, 74.3% of households in the Basque Country had computers, which means that 81% of the population had a computer in their dwelling. Mobile phones were present in 97.2% of households; 98.5% of the population aged 15 and over had access to one.

As regards households with audiovisual equipment, it should be noted that 52.4% had pay-TV, 9.9 points and 91,100 families more than the previous year; this means that 58% of the population (198,000 more people) had this service at home.

Despite a reduction in the differences between the various types of family, they continued to be significant. The greatest differences were seen between families with children and others, especially compared to families made up of single individuals. Thus, 98.5% of families with children had internet access in the dwelling, almost 25 points more than in single member households (73.6%).

On the other hand, 91.8% of families with children had some type of computer in their dwelling, a difference of just less than 38 points compared to single member households (53.9%); lastly, mobile phones had a more widespread presence and presented minor differences; they were present in almost all families with children (99.8%), followed by 97.8% of those made up of couples and 92.9% of single-member families.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62