Press Statement

Preasráiteas

14 December 2021

Go to release: Internet Coverage and Usage in Ireland 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 December 2021) published the third and final publication on the results of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey which was carried out in Quarters 1 and 2, 2021. The detail in this publication is a subset of the broader data collected. The first publication “Internet Security and Information Integrity” was published on 06 December and the second publication “Household Digital Consumer Behaviour” was published on 10 December. This publication today on “Internet Coverage and Usage” covers household internet access, individuals’ frequency of internet usage and use of devices to access the internet.

Commenting on the report, Maureen Delamere, Statistician, said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped Irish life in so many ways, not least in terms of the frequency of usage of ICT and how we use it. Our everyday lives are becoming far more digital, and in 2021, we were online more than ever, working from home and relying on technology and digital services. 

We are using the internet more frequently. At an overall level, nine in 10 (90%) persons aged 16 years and older were recent users of the internet (used within the three months prior to survey), an increase of one percentage point from 2020. Of recent internet users, nearly nine in ten (89%) went online every day or almost every day. Just 8% of persons aged 16 years and older had never used the internet.

As our lives have become more digital, we are accessing the internet more frequently on a daily basis. Of daily internet users, more than one-third (35%) use it all the time or nearly all the time, up six percentage points on 2020. In 2021, more than half (54%) of younger persons aged 16 to 29 years used the internet almost constantly – 26% used it all the time, while a further 28% used it nearly all the time. Students were the most frequent users of the internet in 2021. Nearly all students (96%) used the internet every day or almost every day. Of these daily internet users, 46% used the internet several times a day while a further 36% of students used the internet nearly all the time and nearly one in 10 (9%) used the internet all the time.

The range of devices on which people can access the internet is broad. They can use multiple devices but the majority of internet users (95%) use a smartphone or mobile phone to go online, while three quarters (75%) use a laptop. Practically all households of two or more adults and children (99%) use a smartphone or mobile phone to access the internet. For younger internet users in the 16 to 29 years age group, they used a mix of devices but by far, they mainly used such devices as smart TVs, smart speakers, game consoles, e-book readers, smart watches, etc. (92%) and their phone (86%).”

Looking at household internet connectivity, Maureen Delamere, Statistician said “The vast majority (93%) of households have internet connectivity. Looking at internet access on a regional basis, household internet connectivity was highest for the Dublin region (96%), compared with the Border and Mid-West regions (both at 89%). Household internet access was mainly via fixed broadband access (85%). Fixed broadband connection was highest in the Dublin region at 92% of households, compared with the West and Border regions (78% and 75% respectively)”.

Maureen Delamere, Statistician, further commented “Of households with no internet access, the most common reason (51%) was that they did not need the internet, followed by lack of skills or knowledge (36%). Nearly one in 10 of these households with no internet access (9%) stated that broadband internet was not available in their area.”

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