Danes top Europeans in overall usage
Computers are everywhere on the international market, but few Greeks are using them to go online. Only 17 percent of Greeks use the Internet, the lowest percentage in the European Union. The average use in the rest of the EU is 45 percent. The good news is that, gradually, more Greeks are going online. In 2002, usage rose from 12 percent to 17 percent. But in 2003 the number rose from 16 to 17 percent – only one percentage point. Overall, Scandinavian countries have the highest percentage of Web surfers in Europe. The Danes top Europeans in overall Internet usage. In 2004, 69 percent of them used the Internet, up from 64 percent in 2003. Norwegians follow close behind the Danes, with 60 percent of them going online in both 2004 and 2003. Germans also score well in overall online usage. Penetration in households was 60 percent in 2004, up from 45 percent in 2002. A considerable increase has also been observed in Luxembourg, where Internet usage rose from 40 percent in 2002 to 59 percent in 2004. Which population groups use the Internet more? In both Greece and the rest of Europe, this appears to be the 16-24 age group. In 2004, 35 percent of young Greeks in the 16-24 age group used the Internet at least once a week. However, a large number from this age group also use the Internet to play games with their peers abroad. The corresponding number in Sweden was 92 percent and in Finland 88 percent. Norway is also higher than the European average (84 percent). Ireland, like Greece, also had only 35 percent of its population in the 16-24 age group going online. Ireland and Greece were second to last. Last place went to Turkey, with only 22 percent of its young people using the Internet. In the 25-34 age group, Sweden once again topped the league, with 87 percent of this population using the Internet. Finland came in second (85 percent). At the bottom of the list are the Hungarians (28 percent), Greeks (26 percent) and Turks (14 percent). Swedish dominance continues in the 35-44 age group. In 2004, 82 percent of this population used the Internet. The European average (EU 25) that year was 45 percent. Next came the Danes (80 percent) and the Norwegians (79 percent). In this age group Greece does better than some of its European counterparts. Some 22 percent in this group use the Internet, as opposed to 18 percent in Hungary and Poland. But in Greece’s 45-54 age group, only 10 percent used the Internet in 2004, compared to the EU average of 35 percent. The Cypriots, Lithuanians, Portuguese and Latvians come in just above the Greeks. At the top again are the Swedes (76 percent), followed by the Norwegians (75 percent) and Danes (73 percent). Less than half (45.02 percent) of the Greek population that used the Internet in the first quarter of 2003 were students in post-secondary studies, according to a survey conducted by the National Statistical Service. Another 43.24 percent of users in the same period were senior high school graduates. The remaining 11.74 percent of users were primary and junior high school students. None of the users were unschooled.
