According to the latest Eurostat statistics, internet access and usage is widespread among the EU population. In 2013, 79 percent of European households had access to the internet, 76 percent used broadband internet connection, compared to 55 and 42 percent respectively six years ago. 62 percent of individuals said they used internet every day or almost every day, while additional ten percent said they used it at least once a week.
The member states with the highest proportion of internet users in the population include the Netherlands (95 percent), Luxembourg (94 percent), Denmark and Sweden (both 93 percent). Moreover, in most member states the vast majority of individuals uses the internet connection every day or almost every day. The highest proportion of individuals who did not use the internet every day but rather at least once a week was in the Czech Republic (16 percent) followed by Estonia, Austria and Ireland (all14 percent)
The survey further states that about 40 percent of EU households use internet for e-governance issues and activities related to public authorities. Furthermore, 40 percent of those who declared to use the internet for e-governance also submitted their tax declaration online. Moreover, 20 percent of them used the internet for requests for personal documents, 16 percent of them for claiming social benefits and 9 percent for the admission at high school and universities.
Most of e-governance users come from the Nordic countries. More than half of all the internet users in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Austria, and Slovenia reported that they had used internet for arrangements with public institutions regularly. Among all the interactions with public bodies, tax declaration was the number one service of e-governance, with the highest share registered in Estonia (82 percent) and Denmark (74 percent). The second most popular service was the request for personal documents, which topped in Luxembourg (39 percent).
