Cyprus has seen a significant increase in household internet access reaching 86.2% from 79.4% last year, with Cypriots mainly buying clothes and air tickets online, official figures show.
The percentage of households with access to personal computers was also higher at 78.7% in 2018 compared to 75.9% in 2017.
A slight increase was observed in the percentage of households that own a laptop computer from 65% in 2017 to 68.5% in 2018.
The percentage of households without dependent children that own a computer increased from 68.5% to 72.0% in 2018, while the percentage of households with dependent children that own a computer was 93.3%.
Use of Internet
Some 83.7% of people aged 16-74 use the internet at least once a week. Almost everyone aged 16 – 24 (99.3%) use the internet at least once a week. This percentage decreases with age, even though for individuals aged 65 – 74 years internet use rose to 37.5% in 2018 from 33.9% in 2017. People with a higher education (97.3%) use the internet more frequently than those with a lower education (53.8%).
During the first quarter of 2018, internet usage increased to 84.4% compared to 80.7% in Q1 2017.
The most popular Internet activities are: finding information about goods and services (85.1%), participating in social networks (81.7%), watching video content from sharing services (80.8%), phoning over the internet/video calls (via webcam) (74.4%) and seeking health-related information (67.1%).
And 87.5% that used the Internet in Q1 2018, used their mobile or smart phone to access the Internet away from home or work while, 16.7% used a laptop and 11.5% used a tablet.
e-Commerce
Some 23.3% aged 16 –74 made online orders for goods and services in Q1 2018 compared to 24.4% in 2017.
The most popular categories of goods/services ordered online were: clothes or sports goods (56.3%), travel arrangements such as air tickets, car hire etc. (51.3%) and holiday accommodation (46.7%).
From April 2017 to March 2018, 82.9% of persons aged 16-74 who bought or ordered goods and services preferred sellers from other EU countries, 35.8% preferred sellers from the rest of the world and 34.6% bought from sellers in Cyprus.
The amount spent for goods or services over the internet was usually up to €500 (41.1%).
