Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 February, 2021 at 3:41 pm by Andre Camilleri
The survey on information and communication technology usage, which was partly financed by the European Commission, showed that the entire 16 to 24 age cohort used the internet in 2020, while individuals between 65 and 74 years recorded the lowest levels at 49.1%. Internet usage in Malta is at par with the EU-27 average.
Results show that internet was mostly used for communication purposes (97.1%) and for the use of entertainment (95.9%).
e-Government services
Almost 64% of internet users made use of e-Government services. In absolute terms, the population accessing e-Government services stood at 219,816. The uptake of this service was more common among individuals aged between 16 and 34 years.
Cloud computing
In 2020, 53.9% of internet users made use of cloud computing services. The take up of such services was more popular among the youngest age cohort (16-24) with 76.0%, followed by those aged within the 25-34 years (66.4%).
Digital skills indicators
Almost seven out of every ten internet users have ‘basic’ or ‘above basic’ overall digital skills. Persons aged between 16 and 24 years had the highest ‘above basic’ digital skills when compared to the number of persons in the same age bracket.
The digital skills areas where a high percentage of persons resulted to be more fluent in, were ‘information’ and ‘communication’. In this regard, for both areas, over 85% of internet users resulted to have ‘above basic’ knowledge.
e-Commerce
Internet users who engaged in e-commerce activities during the reference period amounted to 216,917 (62.7%). The majority of e-commerce users were between 25 and 34 years. The most common goods or services acquired online were clothes, deliveries from restaurants, fast-food chains or catering services, and consumer electronics or household appliances.
