One in three Greeks does not own a computer

Athens, 15 July 2014 (MIA) - Almost one in three Greeks state that they had never used a computer in their life (34.4%), or surfed the internet (36.3%). More women (40.8%) than men (35.9%) have never used the internet, Greek media report.

On the other hand, the number of Greeks who use the internet regularly is constantly increasing at an accelerated rate in recent years, with 81% of them using it almost daily. A personal computer remains the most popular device for internet access (91.5% of users), while thanks to 3G technology and smartphones, the number of people who prefer to access the Internet from their phone has increased significantly (18.7%), according to a survey conducted by the Observatory for the Greek Information Society regarding the use of new technologies by Greeks.

The survey found that the number of people who buy goods or services over the internet is increasing constantly, with the most popular product categories being clothing, footwear and electronic devices.

Furthermore, 61.5% said that they have internet access at home, while 37.5% said that they did not. In terms of age groups, about three in every four people aged 66-74 years (73.4%) stated that they did not have home internet access, as well as 57.3% of people aged 55-65, while the lowest percentage of people without internet access concerns young people aged 16-25 years old (18.4%).

Searching for information about products and services (76.7%), email (74.6%), reading online magazines and newspapers (70.5%), entertainment (games, pictures, music, movies – 63.9%) and social networking (51.4%) are the five main online activities of Greek computer owners.

A large number of people in Greece believe that thanks to internet access, their transactions with the state have improved (90%). Moreover, in regards to education, more than half of Greek schools (54%) have their own websites, while 30% of students use their smartphones at school.