The number of Irish households connected to the Internet has more than quadrupled since 1998 with an estimated 262,700 or 20.4 per cent of Irish homes now online, according to data released today by the Central Statistics Office.
The figures produced as part of the Quarterly National Household Survey show one in every three Irish households now have a home computer. Home-computer ownership has grown from 18 per cent in mid-1998 to 32 per cent or 417,000 homes by the end of 2000.
But Ireland still lags well behind the world's leading countries in Internet usage. Figures supplied by Nielsen NetRatings Global Internet Trends show Sweden has the highest household Internet penetration at 46.7 per cent, Hong Kong came a close second with 46.3 per cent while Singapore scored 45.7 per cent.
The computer also remains by far the most popular means of connecting to the Internet. Approximately 15,800 homes have Internet access via television, 26,300 via a WAP phone and 5,000 via a games console.
The most common uses for home computers are education and leisure. Nearly 81 per cent of households use computers for educational purposes while 89 per cent use computers for leisure.