77% of Maltese make regular use of internet

Around 77% of the Maltese population (258,415 people) make regular use of the internet, a survey has found.

The survey, conducted by the National Statistics Office, shows that practically every youth aged between 16 and 24 accessed the internet within the three months prior to the surveying period.

In sharp contrast, only 37.9% of elderly people aged 65 to 74 made use of the internet during that period.

The survey also found that 76.4% of regular internet users accessed the internet via a smartphone throughout 2016, a slight 2.1% increase when compared with 2015.

95% of mobile internet users accessed the internet via a WIFI connection, while 80.9% accessed the internet via a 3G or 4G connection.

The internet is mostly used for communication purposes (95.1%), to access information (91.8%) and for entertainment purposes (89.9%).

Some 56.7% of internet users made use of e-Government services, a 2% increase over the previous year. Usage of e-Government services mainly increased (6.2 percentage points) among persons aged between 25 and 34.

The survey also indicated that cloud computing has become less popular – 35.6% of internet users made use of cloud technology in 2016, a decrease of 3.8 percentage points when compared with 2015 levels.   

Also, 60% individuals who used the internet three months prior to the surveying period purchased goods or services online in the previous year. Similar to 2015, the most common goods or services acquired online were clothes, sports goods, holiday accommodation and other transport arrangements.