In the 27-member European Union, 65 % of households had access to the Internet in the first quarter of 2009, as against 60 percent in the first quarter of 2008, according to figures released by the Eurostat, the European Commission's statistical office, last Tuesday.
According to the data which also includes statistics on Croatia and other EU hopefuls and Norway, 56% of households had a broadband Internet connection in comparison to 49% in the first three months of 2008.
In the first quarter of 2009, Bulgaria had the lowest 30 % of household Internet access. In Greece and Romania each, 38% of households had Internet connections, while in the Netherlands 90% percent of households had access to the Internet.
Netherlands was followed Luxembourg (87%), Sweden (86%), Denmark (83%), Germany (79%), Finland (78%) and the United Kingdom (77%).
"The proportion of households with a broadband connection in 2009 was highest in Sweden (80%), the Netherlands (77%) and Denmark (76%)," the Eurostat reported on its web site.
In Croatia, every second household (50%) had access to the Internet in the first quarter of 2009, as against 45% in the first quarter of 2008. Furthermore, 39% of Croatian households had a broadband Internet connection in the first three months of 2009 as against 27% in the comparable period in 2008.
When it comes to Individuals aged 16-74 having bought or ordered goods or services for private use over the Internet, in EU27 37% of individuals bought goods or services via the Internet in the last 12 months.
"This share varied considerably between Member States, ranging from 2% in Romania, 5% in Bulgaria and 8% in Lithuania to 66% in the United Kingdom, 64% in Denmark and 63% in the Netherlands and Sweden," the Eurostat said.
In Croatia, 10% of people bought or ordered goods or services over the Internet in the last 12 months.
(Hina)