4. Internet use
Age is no longer the barrier it used to be, or was perceived to be, to using the Internet. The notion that the Internet is only relevant to younger people is dispelled by the latest data from the Central Statistics Office. True, those between 16 and 34 show the highest Internet use rates, in excess of 80%. However, there is growing use among older people who are becoming increasingly Internet savvy. Some 235,000 of Irish people aged over 55 are now online. The biggest increase is shown among those between 55 and 64 – rising from 33.9% usage to 41.7% between 2007 and 2008. Among 65 to 74-year-olds, the rate of growth is slower but usage rates now stand at a respectable 21.5%.
The CSO has many other important headline numbers for the digital economy:
- 2.2 million people in Ireland use the Internet
- More than 1 million Irish households have a home computer, 915,000 of which have Internet connections
- 1.2 million Irish people have bought something online
- Almost 694,000 have bought travel or accommodation online, the biggest single category for online shopping
Source: CSO Information Society and Communications reports, 2005-2008. The figures for 2007 were revised at the beginning of 2008 by the CSO and as such will not match the previous graph of Internet use by age from issue 9
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