Four out of five Czechs use the Internet, but elderly still stay offline

Internet access in the Czech Republic has been on the rise. In 2019, 81% of Czechs over 16 years of age have used the Internet, and 70% have used a smartphone. Almost every 15-year-old has Internet access at home and can use a mobile phone.

Computers and the internet are already in almost all homes that want to use this technology. In 2019, less than one-fifth of Czech households were without internet. Three-quarters of these were households of seniors who, in most cases, report that they do not want or work with the Internet at home.

In contrast, 97% of children live in households with internet access and 92% have a computer or tablet at home.

“The use of smartphones is growing dynamically. In 2019 they were used by 70% of persons over 16 years of age, and in people aged 16 to 24 even 99% of them. On the other hand, three-quarters of seniors prefer a mobile phone without an operating system,” Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) development statisitcs department director Martina Mana said.

The number of intenet users is increasing among seniors, although non-users are still a majority. The proportion of people over 65 who have accessed the internet has tripled from 13% in 2010 to 39% in 2019.

Nearly half of 15-year-olds use the Internet for more than four hours at home over the weekend. Every day or almost every day, 78% of girls are of this age on social networks and 66% of boys play internet games.

With the use of smartphones, the number of people who use their phones to access the internet is increasing rapidly.

“While in 2010 only 4% of persons over 16 years of age were connected to the internet from a mobile phone, in 2019 it was almost two-thirds. This is most often the case for young people, with 97% of people aged 16 to 24 using mobile internet,” Eva Myšková Skarlandtová, head of the ČSÚ research, development and information society statistics department.

At the end of 2018, there were 8.3 million telephones in the Czech Republic with an active data service for internet access, and 82% of them were permanent access within the monthly fee.

Over half of adults are in contact with their friends via social networks. In the same year, 45% of companies in the Czech Republic had a social network account. Internet banking and online shopping are also increasingly popular among Czechs. Almost two-thirds of adults already have internet banking (63%) and 59% of people bought something online via the Internet in 2019. Internet banking in the Czech Republic has a significantly higher proportion of people than all our neighbors.

Almost one-fifth of people in 2019 encountered at least one security incident, most often receiving fraudulent e-mail. Significantly fewer people have encountered email or social account attacks, or have been redirected to a fake website. Among businesses, a fifth of them encountered some cyber attack.