As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government put in place measures on social distancing (closure of schools, workplaces, etc.). These measures changed how we live our lives in Ireland and, in this publication, we compare internet usage by households and individuals in the three weeks (commencing 16th March) following the implementation of these Government measures to internet usage for the three weeks commencing 20th January.
In the three weeks commencing the 16th March, nine in every ten individuals aged 16 years and over used the internet within the last 3 months, compared with 89% in a similar reference period in January. See Table 2.1.
In March, nearly all (99%) of persons surveyed in the 30 to 44 years age group used the internet within the last 3 months, while 95% of persons aged 45 to 59 years used the internet in the same period. Of persons surveyed whose principal economic status was At work, 97% of those surveyed, following the introduction of COVID-19 Government measures, used the internet within the previous three months. See Table 2.1.
In the three weeks commencing the 16th March, 84% of individuals surveyed used the internet Every day or almost every day, compared with 81% of respondents surveyed during January. See Table 2.2.
Of persons surveyed in March, aged 16 to 44 years, 97% used the internet Every day or almost every day, while 87% of persons in the 45 to 59 years age cohort were daily internet users, an increase of five percentage points on a similar period in January. Almost two thirds (64%) of persons aged 60 to 74 years used the internet Every day or almost every day, compared with one third (33%) of persons aged 75 years and over. See Table 2.2.
Of persons surveyed in March who were daily internet users, nearly one in ten (9%) use the internet All the time, compared with 7% in January. A further 22% stated that they use the internet Nearly all the time, an increase of three percentage points on a similar reference period in January. See Table 2.3.
One eighth (12%) of daily internet users aged 16 to 44 years, surveyed in March, used the internet All the time, while a further 38% of daily internet users aged 16 to 29 years and one quarter (25%) of individuals in the 30 to 44 years age cohort, used the internet Nearly all the time. Of daily internet users aged 60 years and over surveyed during the March data collection period, 54% of persons aged 60 to 74 years, and 43% of persons aged 75 years and over, used the internet Several times a day. See Table 2.3 and Figure 2.1.
Of daily internet users surveyed in March, whose principal economic status was At work, almost half (49%) used the internet Several times a day, while one quarter (24%) used the internet Nearly all the time and 11% used the internet All the time. See Table 2.3.
| All the time | Nearly all of the time | Several times a day | Briefly 1 or 2 times a day | |
| 16-29 (Jan 2020) | 9 | 31 | 52 | 8 |
| 16-29 (Mar 2020) | 12 | 38 | 36 | 15 |
| 30-44 (Jan 2020) | 9 | 18 | 56 | 17 |
| 30-44 (Mar 2020) | 12 | 25 | 51 | 13 |
| 45-59 (Jan 2020) | 5 | 13 | 55 | 27 |
| 45-59 (Mar 2020) | 8 | 17 | 51 | 24 |
| 60-74 (Jan 2020) | 2 | 6 | 48 | 44 |
| 60-74 (Mar 2020) | 2 | 9 | 54 | 35 |
| 75+ (Jan 2020) | 0 | 2 | 32 | 66 |
| 75+ (Mar 2020) | 0 | 6 | 43 | 51 |
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