Posted: 15th Dec, 2011 By: MarkJ

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), has released its latest '
Internet use in Households and by Individuals in 2011' report. The study reveals that just 11% of UK individuals aged 16-74 have never used the internet (down from 29% in 2006), which
compares favourably with the EU average of 24% (down from 42% in 2006).
The EU's own
Digital Agenda target for 2015 is to reduce the percentage of individuals in the EU27 aged 16-74 who have never used the internet to just 15%. By that count we're well ahead with a 4% lead but there are also other factors to consider.
The proportion of
households with internet access range from 45% in
Bulgaria to 94% in the
Netherlands. Some 85% of households in the UK have the internet (up from 63% in 2006), which again compares well with the EU average of 73% (up from 49% in 2006).
Broadband connectivity is another important factor and also one where we do extremely well. Some
83% of UK households have broadband (up from 44% in 2006), which is the same as the
Netherlands and puts us just behind
Sweden (86% - the highest share of broadband connections in 2011) and
Denmark (84%). The EU average is just 68% (up from 30% in 2006).
Finally we also do extremely well for
e-commerce. In 2011, 58% of internet users in the EU27 had
ordered goods or services online within the last 12 months. The highest shares were observed in the UK (82%), Denmark and Germany (both 77%) and Sweden (75%).