Internet Coverage and Usage in Ireland 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped Irish life in so many ways and in terms of ICT usage, it has impacted the frequency of use of ICT and the use to which ICT has been put by so many people across Ireland. We now shop more online, many are still working remotely, and the use of online education has increased in response to the restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic. Our lives have become a lot more virtual as a result.

At an overall level, nine in ten (90%) individuals used the internet recently (within the previous three months of when they took part in the survey), while just 2% had used the internet, but not recently (not within the previous three months) and a further one in twelve (8%) had never used the internet. See Table 2.1.

Almost all persons aged 30 to 44 years were recent internet users. Similarly, 94% of individuals aged 45 to 59 years had used the internet within the previous three months, and 79% of older persons aged 60 to 74 years had gone online in the previous three months. See Table 2.1 and Figure 2.1.

Nearly half (46%) of persons aged over 75 years had never used the internet, a decrease of four percentage points on 2020. This compared with just 1% of persons aged 30 to 44 years, and 4% of persons aged 45 to 59 years, who have never used the internet. All persons aged 16 to 29 years have used the internet within the previous three months. See Table 2.1.

Of persons surveyed whose principal economic status was At work, 97% used the internet within the previous three months, up one percentage point on 2020. This compares with 91% of persons whose principal economic status was Unemployed. See Table 2.1.

Nearly nine in every ten (89%) of internet users used the internet every day. Nearly all internet users aged between 16 and 44 years used the internet every day or almost every day, while nine in ten (90%) internet users aged 45 to 59 years used the internet daily. Of internet users aged 60 to 74 three in four (76%) used the internet every day or almost every day, as did 58% of internet users aged 75 and over. See Table 2.2 and Figure 2.2.

Persons living in households with dependent children were more likely to use the internet on a daily or almost daily basis. Nearly all (96%) of internet users surveyed, living in households comprised of two adults with children, used the internet every day or almost every day, as did 95% of internet users living in households made up of one adult with children and 93% of those residing in a household with three or more adults with children. By comparison, for households with no dependent children, over eight in ten (84%) of recent internet users in households of two or more adults with no children, used the internet daily or almost daily, as did just 82% of those living alone. See Table 2.2.

Of those persons who were daily internet users, over one third (35%) used it all the time/nearly all the time – 15% used the internet all the time while a further 20% used it nearly all the time. While the number going online nearly all the time has remained the same as in 2020, the numbers going online all the time has increased by six percentage points on 2020. See Table 2.3 and Figure 2.3.

Younger daily internet users aged 16 to 29 years used the internet most frequently throughout the day. Over one quarter (26%) used the internet all the time, while nearly three in every ten (28%) accessed the internet nearly all the time, and 37% accessed it several times a day. Similarly, the frequency of daily internet access was high in the 30 to 44 years age category. Nearly one in five (19%) daily internet users aged 30 to 44 years, used the internet all the time, while a further one quarter (25%) of daily internet users in this age group used the internet nearly all the time, and a further 41% used the internet several times a day. See Table 2.3 and Figure 2.3.

Nearly half of daily internet users aged 60 years and over used the internet several times a day, - 47% of persons aged between 60 and 74 years and 48% of internet users aged 75 and over. See Table 2.3 and Figure 2.3.

Of daily internet users surveyed whose principal economic status was At Work, almost one in five (19%) used it all the time, an increase of seven percentage points on 2020. Nearly one quarter (24%) of these internet users were online nearly all the time, while four in ten (40%) used the internet several times a day. See Table 2.3.

At an overall level, students were the most frequent users of the internet in 2021. Nearly all Students (97%) used the internet every day or almost every day. Of these daily internet users, 43% used the internet several times a day while a further 28% of Students used the internet nearly all the time and nearly one in five (17%) used the internet all the time. See Tables 2.2 and 2.3.

Eight in ten (79%) retired persons who used the internet in the last three months, used it every day or almost every day. Of these daily internet users, one in ten (8%) used the internet nearly all the time, while only 2% used the internet all the time. See Tables 2.2 and 2.3.

Nearly seven in ten (68%) persons aged 75 years and over (who used the internet in the previous three months), used it every day or almost every day. Of these, nearly half (48%) used it several times a day, while a further 41% used the internet briefly one or two times a day. One in twelve (8%) used it nearly all the time, while just 3% said that they used the internet all the time. See Tables 2.2 and 2.3.