Press Statement

Preasráiteas

18 October 2019

Go to release: Information Society Statistics - Households 2019

The Central Statistics Office has today (18 October 2019) published Information Society Statistics Households 2019, the results cover a range of topics related to the use of ICT by households and individuals.

Commenting on the report, Maureen Delamere, Statistician said: “In 2019, 91% of households have internet access, an increase of two percentage points since 2018. Fixed broadband is the most common type of household internet access at 84%, compared with 47% using mobile broadband (note that more than one type of internet connection may be used).

With regard to individuals’ internet usage, almost nine out of every ten persons (88%) are recent internet users, i.e., used the internet in the three months prior to interview, an increase of three percentage points on the same period in 2018. Just 11% of individuals have never used the internet. Nearly four fifths (79%) use the internet every day or almost every day, and of this cohort, almost six in ten (58%) use the internet several times a day.

Finding information on goods and services and email are the most common internet activities, carried out by 84% of internet users. The next most common activities are instant messaging at 75% and reading or downloading online news sites/newspapers/magazines and internet banking, both at 73%. Clothes/sports goods is the most common type of goods or service bought online, purchased by over half of internet users at 51%, followed by holiday accommodation at 47% and other travel arrangements at 45%.

Use of cloud computing to save files such as pictures, music, videos, documents, etc. is on the increase, with 53% of internet users using cloud storage in 2019, an increase of four percentage points on 2018.

Respondents were also asked about security related incidents that they experienced through using the internet.

• Phishing (receiving fraudulent messages) was experienced by 15% of internet users
• Pharming (redirection to fake websites asking for personal information) was experienced by 9% of internet users
• Online identity theft was experienced by 2% of internet users
• Financial loss was experienced by 6% of individuals, as a result of Phishing, Pharming and/or Online identity theft 
• Of those surveyed, 9% found that their children had accessed inappropriate websites.

Smart technology specific to the home is a new emerging technology in households in Ireland. It is the use of the internet to interact with household equipment or appliances that are connected to the internet, such as control of heating, lighting, security systems, household appliances, etc.. Results from the survey show that one eighth (12%) of internet users use home smart technology."

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