The UK Government may want the country to be the European leader in the new economy, but it is unlikely to get its way. This is the conclusion of an analysis of Western European internet penetration forecasts by Net Profit, published today.
The forecasts, produced by Net Figures, show that the UK will lag behind a number of other European countries, notably the Scandinavian nations and the Netherlands, and its growth will be lower than the European average.
Between 2002 and 2005, the UK’s Net penetration compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is forecast to be 12.3%; the Western European average is 18.4%, according to the figures. The UK currently has the tenth highest penetration at 5,073 users per 10,000 people – or 50.7%. Sweden leads the region with 7,013 users per 10,000 in 2002. By 2005, the UK will ranked thirteenth with a penetration of 71.2%, or 7,192 per 10,000.
The figures refer to Net penetration of people who have access to the web from home, the office and elsewhere combined. They include access by dial up and broadband technologies combined.
| Western European Internet Penetration Forecasts, Users Per 10,000 People |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
CAGR 2002-2005 (%) |
| 1 |
Sweden |
7,013 |
7,508 |
8,003 |
8,485 |
6.6 |
| 2 |
Finland |
6,837 |
7,364 |
7,923 |
8,449 |
7.3 |
| 3 |
Iceland |
6,786 |
7,500 |
7,857 |
8,214 |
6.6 |
| 4 |
Norway |
6,590 |
7,154 |
7,731 |
8,274 |
7.9 |
| 5 |
Denmark |
6,456 |
7,065 |
7,687 |
8,289 |
8.7 |
| 6 |
Netherlands |
6,425 |
7,145 |
7,888 |
8,631 |
10.3 |
| 7 |
Austria |
5,540 |
6,282 |
7,076 |
7,876 |
12.4 |
| 8 |
Switzerland |
5,203 |
5,953 |
6,773 |
7,585 |
13.4 |
| 9 |
Belgium |
5,116 |
5,969 |
6,910 |
7,896 |
15.6 |
| 10 |
UK |
5,073 |
5,748 |
6,465 |
7,192 |
12.3 |
| 11 |
Ireland |
4,578 |
5,571 |
6,711 |
7,929 |
20.1 |
| 12 |
Luxembourg |
4,518 |
5,800 |
6,717 |
8,166 |
21.8 |
| 13 |
Italy |
4,360 |
5,385 |
6,576 |
7,893 |
21.9 |
| 14 |
Germany |
4,301 |
5,075 |
5,934 |
6,843 |
16.7 |
| 15 |
France |
3,095 |
4,050 |
5,221 |
6,589 |
28.6 |
| 16 |
Spain |
2,931 |
3,741 |
4,711 |
5,816 |
25.7 |
| 17 |
Cyprus |
2,857 |
3,508 |
4,359 |
5,385 |
29.5 |
| 18 |
Portugal |
2,558 |
3,077 |
3,664 |
4,303 |
18.9 |
| 19 |
Greece |
2,376 |
2,990 |
3,714 |
4,551 |
24.2 |
| 20 |
Malta |
1,500 |
2,000 |
2,500 |
3,171 |
28.3 |
| 21 |
Turkey |
932 |
1,396 |
2,092 |
3,168 |
50.4 |
| Source: Net Figures/Net Profit, May 2002 |
In terms of growth, the UK will be only the fifteenth fastest between now and 2005, out of the 21 countries on the Net Figures survey. This is partly due to the very fast start the country got when free ISPs and unmetered access were introduced at an early stage.
