In the 2025 survey, internet users were asked if they had experienced any problems/difficulties when using the internet in the three months prior to competing the survey, and if they did, how did they try to resolve such issues.
Note: The data presented in this release relates to individuals aged 16 years and over who used the internet in the three months prior to completing the survey.
Almost four in ten (37%) internet users had experienced no problems when online in the three months prior to completing the survey with little difference between males (37%) and females (36%).
Younger people aged 16 to 29 years were most likely to have fixed the problem or tried to resolve the issue themselves (60%).
Almost half (49%) of older people aged 75 years or over who had encountered problems when using the internet in the 3 months prior to completing the survey and had asked someone else to help them resolve it. Older females aged 75 years and over were most likely to seek help to resolve any problems. Almost six in ten (59%) had tried to resolve their issues in this way compared with 39% of males in this age group.
Just 3% who had a problem, made no attempt to resolve it.
Overall in the ICT Household Survey, free software (‘freeware’) and free apps where software that can be downloaded from the internet and used for free for a certain period are generally excluded. However, from 2024, questions have been included in the questionnaire to look at the level of usage of free apps and issues/difficulties encountered when closing or deleting the free app or service after a period.
Of internet users, 77% had opened or registered with a free app or service. Of these, over half (53%) had tried to delete them and more than four in ten (43%) encountered problems when trying to delete or close the app or service.
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