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Impact of COVID-19 on ICT Usage by Households

Type of Internet Activities

Email and internet telephoning increases

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Home schooling and remote working from home has had an effect on the ICT usage of individuals since the introduction of the measures introduced as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine in every ten (90%) of internet users surveyed in three weeks in March (since the introduction of these new measures) used Email, an increase of four percentage points on the corresponding figure for January. In the March data collection period, almost all (99%) of internet users aged 16 to 44 years used Email, as did eight in every ten (80%) of internet users aged 60 years and over. Over nine in every ten (93%) of internet users whose principal economic status was At work used Email, an increase of three percentage points on the corresponding figure in January. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

With an increase in the number of persons remote working from home or home schooling, and remote meetings by phone where possible, there has also been an increase in the use of Internet telephoning/video calls (such as Skype, Zoom, etc.) – nearly three quarters (74%) of internet users used this method of communication in March, an increase of two percentage on the corresponding period in January (72%). See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

During this ‘lockdown’ period, people are increasingly accessing news using online news channels. Over three quarters (76%) of internet users reported Reading or downloading online news (including online news sites, newspapers or magazines), an increase of two percentage points on the corresponding figure for January. Social networking (includes creating user profiles, posting messages or other contributions to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp etc.) also increased in March – 68% compared with 66% in January. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

With the closure of banks and other financial institutions, the use of internet banking and mobile banking increased. Over eight in every ten (81%) of internet users used Internet banking in March compared with 72% in January, an increase of nine percentage points. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

Table 3.1 Individuals who recently used the internet (in the last 3 months) classified by types of internet activities, January and March 2020

	January 2020	March 2020
Email	86	90
Internet telephoning/ video calls	72	74
Instant messaging	82	80
Reading or downloading online news	74	76
Internet banking	72	81
Social networking	66	68

During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of the internet for Seeking health related information has increased by twelve percentage points in March, with 72% of persons aged 16 years and over seeking health information compared with 60% in the last three weeks of January. See Table 3.2 and Figure 3.2.

With more people having to stay at home, our use of the internet for entertainment has increased. Watching YouTube type content has increased in March during the COVID-19 pandemic – 70% of persons aged 16 years and over in March compared with 65% in the corresponding period in January, an increase of five percentage points. Watching internet streamed TV live or catch up (from TV broadcasters) was carried out by 55% of internet users, while 57% were Watching video on demand (from commercial services such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO GO, Amazon Prime). In March, 46% of internet users aged 60 years and over were Watching internet streamed TV live or catch up, compared to 29% in January, while 37% of that age group were Watching video on demand in March compared to 29% in January. See Table 3.2 and Figure 3.2.

Table 3.2 Individuals who recently used the internet (in the last 3 months) classified by types of internet activities, January and March 2020

	January 2020	March 2020
Seeking health related information	60	72
Finding information on goods and services	89	77
Listening to music	59	62
Watching YouTube type content	65	70
Watching internet streamed TV live or catch up	54	55
Watching video on demand	55	57

In March, almost half (49%) of persons aged 16 to 44 years (who use the internet) reported Uploading self-created content (such as photos, music, videos, text to any website to be shared), compared to 38% in January, while 55% of this age group used the internet for Playing or downloading games – a 20 percentage increase on January levels . See Table 3.3 and Figure 3.3.

One fifth (20%) of persons used the internet for Making an appointment with a health practitioner (such as to get a prescription), an increase of seven percentage points on January. Use of the internet for Using other healthcare services instead of visiting doctor (via a website or App) was reported by 7% of internet users surveyed in March, compared with 4% in the corresponding survey period in January. See Table 3.3 and Figure 3.3.

Table 3.3 Individuals who recently used the internet (in the last 3 months) classified by types of internet activities, January and March 2020

	January 2020	March 2020
Uploading self created content	31	38
Playing or downloading games	23	30
Selling of goods or services	8	10
Making an appointment with health practitioner	13	20
Accessing personal health records	5	4
Using other healthcare services instead of visiting	4	7

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Table 3.1 Individuals who recently used the internet (in the last 3 months) classified by types of internet activities, January¹ and March² 2020
% of individuals
	Types of internet activity
	Email³		Internet telephoning/ video calls⁴		Instant messaging⁵		Reading or downloading online news⁶		Internet banking		Social networking⁷
	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20
State	86	90	72	74	82	80	74	76	72	81	66	68

Sex
Male	95	89	71	72	78	82	80	82	80	80	66	63
Female	79	90	73	75	86	78	70	71	66	82	66	73

Age group
16-44	90	99	79	89	89	85	82	90	80	97	79	87
45-59	83	85	63	69	83	74	66	69	67	73	62	64
60+	84	80	71	54	69	77	70	64	67	63	48	39

Principal Economic Status
At work	90	93	72	79	87	81	79	83	80	87	70	74
Other	79	80	72	61	70	77	65	62	57	65	58	52

Region (NUTS2)
North and Western	81	88	68	52	74	80	77	46	71	76	78	36
Southern	93	86	73	73	81	85	74	77	84	78	72	76
Eastern and Midland	82	93	72	78	84	74	74	82	62	84	58	68
¹ Survey weeks 3 to 5.
² Survey weeks 11 to 13.
³Includes sending and receiving emails.
⁴ Includes Skype, Zoom Facetime etc
⁵ Exchanging messages for example via Skype, Messenger, WhatsApp and Viber.
⁶ Includes online news sites, newspapers or magazines
⁷ Examples include creating user profiles, posting messages or other contributions to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp etc.
Note 1: Respondents may have selected more than one option.
Note 2: Data are subject to sampling and other survey errors, which are relatively greater in respect of smaller values.
Note 3: Individuals represent all individuals aged 16 years and over who used the internet in the previous 3 months.

Table 3.2 Individuals who recently used the internet (in the last 3 months) classified by types of internet activities, January¹ and March² 2020
% of individuals
	Types of internet activity
	Seeking health related information³		Finding information on goods and services		Listening to music⁴		Watching YouTube type content		Watching internet streamed TV live or catch up		Watching video on demand
	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20
State	60	72	89	77	59	62	65	70	54	55	55	57

Sex
Male	53	69	94	79	67	65	71	77	58	54	57	56
Female	67	76	83	76	51	60	59	62	50	56	54	57

Age group
16-44	70	82	97	79	80	72	75	91	76	72	74	75
45-59	56	68	83	74	49	63	66	63	45	39	51	47
60+	50	62	83	79	39	44	46	44	29	46	29	37

Principal economic status
At work	61	73	90	78	65	69	71	78	58	61	63	62
Other	59	70	86	76	46	50	53	50	45	44	36	46

Region (NUTS2)
North and Western	58	70	84	82	35	60	65	70	35	49	21	37
Southern	61	71	88	77	62	70	73	75	61	50	52	62
Eastern and Midland	61	73	90	77	63	56	58	66	53	61	65	57
¹Survey weeks 3 to 5.
² Survey weeks 11 to 13.
³ Seeking health related information examples include injury, disease, nutrition, improving health etc.
⁴Includes web radio and music streaming.
Note 1: Respondents may have selected more than one option.
Note 2: Data are subject to sampling and other survey errors, which are relatively greater in respect of smaller values.
Note 3: Individuals represent all individuals aged 16 years and over who used the internet in the previous 3 months.

Table 3.3 Individuals who recently used the internet (in the last 3 months) classified by types of internet activities, January¹ and March² 2020
% of individuals
	Types of internet activity
	Uploading self created content³		Playing or downloading games		Selling of goods or services⁴		Making appointment with health practitioner⁵		Accessing personal health records		Using other healthcare services instead of visiting doctor
	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20	Jan-20	Mar-20
State	31	38	23	30	8	10	13	20	5	4	4	7

Sex
Male	30	43	20	36	8	11	15	21	6	6	5	7
Female	32	34	26	24	7	9	11	18	4	1	3	7

Age group
16-44	38	49	35	55	6	10	14	26	5	3	5	5
45-59	19	36	15	14	10	9	10	13	1	1	2	7
60+	32	24	13	12	8	10	17	16	11	7	4	12

Principal Economic Status
At work	29	41	27	31	11	10	13	25	5	3	5	7
Other	34	33	14	27	1	9	12	10	7	4	2	7

Region (NUTS2)
North and Western	43	24	17	10	9	26	19	11	0	0	0	8
Southern	36	32	36	28	10	10	11	14	7	7	7	6
Eastern and Midland	23	46	13	36	6	6	13	26	5	2	2	9
¹ Survey weeks 3 to 5.
²Survey weeks 11 to 13.
³ Includes uploading photos, music, videos, text, software to any website to be shared.
⁴ Includes online auctions such as eBay.
⁵ Includes getting a prescription.
Note 1: Respondents may have selected more than one option.
Note 2: Data are subject to sampling and other survey errors, which are relatively greater in respect of smaller values.
Note 3: Individuals represent all individuals aged 16 years and over who used the internet in the previous 3 months.

Impact of COVID-19 on ICT Usage by Households

Type of Internet Activities

Email and internet telephoning increases

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