Home Internet Penetration Takes Off

Penetration of the internet is now higher at home than at work in countries with the highest overall access, according to the most recent wave of the IriS Network Internet Usage Survey. The traditional preference for usage at work has been overturned in Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands.

Internet access generally continues to increase year on year across the globe, in some countries sharply. Around three in ten adults or more now have access - at home or at work - in Finland, Switzerland, Canada, Great Britain and the Netherlands.

PC ownership and modem ownership, in particular, have both continued to grow. Seven in ten households in Denmark own a PC while in Britain, PC penetration has increased from 32% to 39% in the past year. At the same time, modem ownership has risen by one-third, to 21% of the population. Furthermore, future PC purchase is likely to increase in countries which have the highest current penetration levels. "In most countries, including Great Britain, current PC owners are just as likely to say they will buy a new PC - as a replacement or additional - as non-owners," says Janette Henderson, MORI UK.

E-commerce is also starting to take off, although penetration in the general population is still quite low. Denmark and Sweden lead in this area with one in ten adults ever having purchased on-line. In Britain, on-line shopping is rising steadily from two per cent in 1998 to five per cent this year.

However, according to Barry Watson, of Environics, Canada, "while e-commerce is evident only at relatively low levels and in limited product categories, the potential for growth within existing internet users is tremendous, as is the potential for e-commerce to further drive demand for PCs and internet connection."

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Technical details

The IriS Internet Usage Survey has been tracking worldwide internet awareness and usage since 1996. The current survey is based on over 18,000 interviews conducted in 18 countries in early 1999 (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Uruguay). The IriS (International Research Institutes) network, represented by MORI in Great Britain, is an association of 26 independent research companies in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.