98% of Luxembourgers have internet access

Luxembourg, Finland and the Netherlands each report the highest proportion of households with internet acces with 98%, Eurostat data on the digital economy shows.

Greece (85%), Croatia (86%) and Bulgaria (87%) have the lowest internet connectivity rates among EU Members. But for Bulgaria, for example, that's still a 20% increase over the last 5 years.

The internet access rate in the EU is now at 93%, a 21% increase in just 10 years.

In terms of the urban/rural divide and internet access, households in towns (92%) and suburbs (90%) are generally less well connected than those in major cities (94%). Belgium, Slovenia and Estonia were the exception to that general trend with towns and suburbs presenting the highest household internet access compare with cities and rural areas.

In Luxembourg, the difference is only around 1 or 2 percentage points between the three geographical areas.

© Eurostat

How often were we browsing?

90% of EU individuals between the ages of 16-74 used the internet at least once within the three months prior to the taking this survey. 84% accessed the internet on a daily basis, with a further 5% using it at least once a week.

Interestingly, in Norway (although not a member of the EU), 100% of individuals had used the internet in the three months before this data was collected.

The proportion of the population that had never used the internet was 7 % in 2022, but reached 14% in Greece and Portugal, and 13% in Croatia and Bulgaria.

52% of EU individuals sought health-related information online (e.g. injuries, diseases, nutrition, improving health). In Finland, the proportion reached 81% and it was over 70% in three other Member States: the Netherlands (78%), Cyprus (73%) and Denmark (71%). Romania (29%) and Germany (37%) reported the lowest shares.

Over 80% of Luxembourg internet users bought goods and services via the internet in 2022, but this is slightly lower than in Denmark or the Netherlands, both 88%. By contrast, this proportion was the lowest in Romania (30%) and Bulgaria (23%). The largest increases were observed in Hungary (up 31%), and in Romania (up 30%), meaning that in Romania prior to 2017 nearly no one bought goods or services online.

© Eurostat

The most popular use of the internet remained communication: Sending/receiving e-mails (77%), instant messaging (72%) and calling or video calls (66%). 65% used it to stream TV and films.
A majority of people also used the internet for reading online news sites/newspapers (64%), watching video content from commercial or sharing services (61%), banking (60%), participating in social networks (58%), and listening to music (54%).

Less than one fifth of users used to internet to complete an educational online course, but around 15% spent time expressing opinions on civic or political issues.

© Eurostat