Email and finding information about goods and services were the most popular internet activities (both 94%) in the first six months of 2024.
Internet banking or mobile banking (including PayPal, Revolut, Apple Pay, etc.) and instant messaging were the next most popular internet activities in the first two quarters of 2024, both at 87%.
Clothes, shoes, or accessories (including bags, jewellery, etc.) continued to be the most common purchase online according to 77% of internet users.
More people were ordering ready-made food online in the first half of 2024 than in the same period in 2023. Some 46% of internet users in the first half of 2024 ordered ready-made food (takeaways, catering etc.) online, up two percentage points on the same period in 2023.
Four in ten (40%) internet users in the first two quarters of 2024 made an online appointment or reservation with public authorities or services such as the passport service or a hospital appointment.
Around 85% of internet users had used free apps, and of these, over four in ten (41%) encountered difficulties when trying to close/delete the app.
More people were engaging in online learning in 2024. Over one-third (34%) did an online course of some form, with males (38%) more likely than females (30%) to do an online course (formal/informal).
Almost seven in ten (69%) internet users used films, series, or sports streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, GAAGO, and Sky Sports.
This release is the second of four releases presenting the results of the annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey, which was carried out in the first two quarters of 2024. The first release, Internet Coverage and Usage in Ireland 2024, was published on 01 October 2024 and covered household internet access, and individuals’ frequency of internet usage. Two further releases will be published during the month of October: Smart Technology 2024, which will focus on our use of internet-connected devices and systems both inside and outside the home, and the Sustainability of Personal ICT Devices 2024 release will cover how we dispose of our ICT devices such as smartphones, laptops, etc. and what factors influence our decisions when buying new devices, including environmental considerations.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 October 2024) released Household Digital Consumer Behaviour 2024, which is the second of a series of releases presenting the results of the annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey (See Editor’s Note below for more details).
The 2024 ICT Household Survey was carried out in the first two quarters of 2024. The data in this release relates to the experience of persons who access the internet. This release focuses on the internet usage of persons aged 16 years and over who have used the internet within the previous three months and examines their digital consumer behaviour. It also covers individuals’ use of e-commerce including internet activities, purchase of goods and services online, online learning, and people’s use of e-Government.
Commenting on the results, Maureen Delamere, Statistician in the Social Analysis Division, said:
"Our everyday lives are becoming far more digital, and in the first half of 2024, we were online and relying on technology and digital services more than ever. At an overall level, more than nine in ten (93%) people aged 16 years and older used the internet within the previous three months (from when they took part in the survey). Just 1% had used the internet but not recently (not within the previous three months), and only one in sixteen (6%) had never used the internet. Figures on the frequency of internet usage were published in our first release of the 2024 series 'Internet Coverage and Usage in Ireland 2024' published 01 October 2024.
At an overall level, finding information about goods or services now shares top spot with email as the most popular internet activity in the first six months of 2024, while internet banking or mobile banking (including PayPal, Revolut, Apple Pay, etc.), and instant messaging both moved to second place.
Around 94% of internet users used email and a similar number used the internet for finding information on goods and services. Use of email was up one percentage point from the first six months of 2023, whereas use of the internet to find information on goods and services had climbed four percentage points, compared with the same period in 2023.
The two second most popular activities for internet users were mobile banking and instant messaging. Some 87% of internet users used internet banking or mobile banking (including PayPal, Revolut, Apple Pay, etc.) and the same percentage used instant messaging services.
Buying Goods and Services Online
Despite the return to on-street retail post-COVID-19, shopping online at an overall level has remained buoyant. Some 85% of internet users purchased goods and/or services online in the first half of 2024 with little difference between the number of males (84%) and females (85%) purchasing online.
The online purchase of clothes (including sports clothing), shoes, or accessories (including bags, jewellery, etc.) remained the most popular use of ICT for online purchases at almost eight in ten (77%) of internet users. There was a notable difference between the number of males and females buying clothes, shoes, or accessories online at 86% of females compared with 68% of males. Males were far more likely to buy sports goods online at 28% compared with 21% of females.
Almost seven in ten (69%) of internet users used films, series, or sports streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, GAAGO, and Sky Sports.
When it comes to ordering ready-made food online such as takeaways, it has increased by two percentage points to 46% in the first six months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. Similarly, ordering of meal-kits, recipe boxes, and groceries online increased in 2024 to 14%, compared with one in ten (10%) in 2023. Households with children were more likely to order takeaways (52%) and meal-kits, recipe boxes, groceries (14%) online in 2024.
Online Communications
Almost three-quarters (73%) of internet users in the first two quarters of 2024 were social networking, communicating via WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, X, etc., which was an increase of two percentage points on the same period in 2023. The vast majority (95%) of younger persons aged 16 to 29 years used social networking of some form. Almost half of older persons aged 60 to 74 years were using social networking in the first half of 2024, while of internet users aged 75 years and over, 38% were using social networking sites such as WhatsApp, Meta, etc. to some degree.
Use of instant messaging using Skype, Messenger, Viber, etc. also rose in Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of 2024, with almost nine in ten females (89%) more likely to use it compared with 84% of males.
The use of internet telephoning/video calls (WhatsApp, FaceTime, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, etc.) remained high in the first half of 2024 at 81%, up five percentage points from the same period in 2023.
Online formal training increased in 2024. More than one third (34%) of internet users reported doing an online course in the first six months of 2024, up nine percentage points on the same period in 2023 (25%). Almost half (49%) of internet users reported using online learning resources (such as e-textbooks or online learning software), with 52% of males doing so compared with 47% of females.
Online Booking of Travel and Events
Almost six in ten (59%) internet users had booked tickets online to events including concerts, cinema, sports events, fairs, etc. Using the internet to book travel and accommodation both increased in the first six months of 2024. Two-thirds (66%) of internet users had booked travel tickets online including air travel, bus, rail, and taxi, compared with 55% in 2023, while more than half (51%) had booked accommodation online though a travel agent, a booking website, or direct with a hotel or accommodation provider website. The percentage of people who booked accommodation online in the same period in 2023 was 40%.
e-Government
Four in ten (40%) internet users in the first half of 2024 made an online appointment or reservation with public authorities or services such as with the National Driver Licence Service, the Passport Office, or public health appointment with a hospital, etc. At an overall level, of internet users who had accessed the online services of a public authority or service, almost six in ten (58%) had encountered no problems at all. One in four (26%) respondents said the digital platform was difficult to use and not user-friendly, while one in five (20%) experienced technical problems, such as the website or app taking a long time to load or crashing while loading.”