In the EU27, 70% of households had access to the internet in the first quarter of 2010, compared with 49% in the first quarter of 2006. The share of households with broadband internet connections doubled, to reach 61% in 2010 compared with 30% in 2006.

In 2010, the level of internet access for households with children in the EU27 was significantly higher than for households without children (84% compared with 65%). This was the case in all Member States. The shares for households with children ranged from 50% in Romania to 99% in the Netherlands and Finland. In twelve Member States the share was 90% or more for households with children. Malta stood at 95%.

Proportion of internet access around 20 percentage points higher in households with children

The level of internet access increased in all Member States between 2006 and 2010, most notably in Romania where it tripled, and in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Slovakia, where it doubled or almost doubled. In 2010, the highest shares of internet access were recorded in the Netherlands (91%), Luxembourg (90%), Sweden (88%) and Denmark (86%), and the lowest in Bulgaria (33%), Romania (42%) and Greece (46%). Malta stood at 70%.

The proportion of households with a broadband connection also rose in every Member State in 2010 compared with 2006. Sweden (83%) registered the highest share of broadband connections in 2010, followed by Denmark (80%), Finland (76%) and Germany (75%), while Romania (23%), Bulgaria (26%) and Greece (41%) had the lowest. Malta stood at 69%.

One in five older internet users make internet phone calls

In the EU27, around 90% of all internet users sent e-mails during the first quarter of 2010, without any significant difference between age groups.

On the other hand, there was a very significant difference in the use of internet for posting messages to chat sites, blogs and social networks by age. Four fifths of internet users aged 16-24 in the EU27 used the internet for this purpose during 2010, (Malta stood at 79%), compared with two fifths of those aged 25-54 (Malta stood at 43%), and less than one fifth of those aged 55-74 (Malta stood at 18%). Use of this form of communication was particularly high for all age groups in Poland, Portugal and Lithuania.

There was a less pronounced difference between age groups in the use of internet phone and video calls, with one third of those aged 16-24, (Malta stood at 28%), one quarter of those aged 25-54 (Malta stood at 24%),and one fifth of those aged 55-74 in the EU27, Malta stood at 36%), using this form of communication during 2010. Use of the internet for phone and video calls was particularly high for all age groups in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

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