New research from eMarketer has found that consumers from Western European nations such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom are among the world’s keenest users of the web.
However, eMarketer says that there are still differences in the rates of internet usage and broadband penetration from country to country.
Karin von Abrams, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report Western Europe: Internet Users and Usage, said: “Of the five major Western European nations, the United Kingdom has embraced the internet most avidly – it was the first of these countries to see more than half its population online.
“Though the French, Germans and Italians were slower to respond to the Internet opportunity, all three have reached 50% penetration and even Spain is growing now.”
eMarketer says that in Spain the online population is actually growing more rapidly than in France, Germany, Italy and the UK in percentage terms, although from a much smaller base.
The online market research group estimates that this discrepancy will persist through 2011. As other major European countries pass 60% online penetration, Spain will struggle to reach this milestone. Meanwhile, the UK will race ahead to reach almost 75% online penetration.
“However, as the web becomes a commonplace tool for young people, students and the working population, one group of Europeans is in danger of missing the Internet boat,” von Abrams said. “With few exceptions, the growing ranks of citizens over 50 are not well represented online.”
At the start if the month, figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) revealed that UK internet advertising had recorded above-expectation 41.3% year on year growth in the first half of 2007 (see UK Internet Advertising Records 41.3% Year On Year Growth).
A recent report from the Office for National Statistics found that the number of UK households connected to the internet has jumped by almost one million in the last year alone, to reach over 15 million (see Household Internet Connectivity Rises To Over 15 Million).
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