The frequency of ordering products and services online is increasing among users of e-commerce
A fixed broadband connection (wired or wireless) continues to be the most popular type of Internet connection, as it was used in 90% of the households with Internet access. 88% of households without children and 92% of households with children had a fixed broadband Internet connection (wired or wireless). There has been a significant increase in the use of mobile Internet. While in the 1st quarter of 2015 slightly more than a half (56%) of households had mobile Internet, then according to data from the 1st quarter of 2016 there was mobile Internet in a little more than three quarters (78%) of households. The use of fixed broadband connection (either wired or wireless) is more popular among households living in urban settlements, while mobile Internet is more popular among households living in rural settlements. Households without an Internet connection at home cited lack of interest as the main reason for not having one.
In the first three months of 2016, 87% of persons aged 16–74 had used the Internet. The share of Internet users is the largest among 16–54-year-olds (90%) and the smallest among 55–74-year-olds (65%). Among persons with basic or up to primary education, seven out of ten used the Internet, while among persons with higher education nine out of ten used the Internet.
Nine out of ten 16–74-year-old Internet users had used the Internet in the last three months for Internet banking, reading newspapers and magazines, using e-mail, and seeking information about products and services. 64% of the 16–74-year-old Internet users listened to music online and 43% watched a television programme (including live and catch-up programmes).
A little bit more than a half (56%) of 16–74-year-olds has bought products or services online in the last 12 months. Compared to males, the share of e-commerce users is 6 percentage points higher among females. Items that were bought online the most included travel and accommodation services (59% of the users of e-commerce), tickets for concerts, cinema, theatre and other events (55%), insurance policies (including those offered as a package), and clothes, shoes or sports equipment (51%).
In the 1st quarter, slightly less than three quarters (73%) of the users of e-commerce bought goods or services online up to five times. Younger e-commerce users (aged 16–24) made online purchases more often (3–5 times) than older e-commerce users (aged 65–74), who did it less frequently (1–2 times). In 43% of the cases, the price of goods bought online (excl. expenditure on shares and other financial services) remained between 100–499 euros. There were more males than females among persons having made online purchases for over 500 euros. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2015, the share of those who made online purchases more often than five times increased by 3 percentage points and the share of persons having spent more than 500 euros grew by 2 percentage points.
In the business sector, the use of cloud services designed to share resources via the web – software, hardware, or combinations thereof – has become increasingly more widespread. More than a fifth of Estonian enterprises have bought paid cloud services. The most popular cloud services include financial and operational software, office software, file storage and recording services and e-mail services. The main users of paid cloud services are enterprises of the information and communications sector (54%), who are providers of cloud services themselves, too.
The use of big data is spreading rapidly as a new trend. Big data are produced in the implementation of digital technology and are forwarded automatically from machine to machine. Such data are generated, for example, with the help of production process sensors, by logging various transactions, but also as a result of various social media activities. 13% of Estonian enterprises have analysed big data, with the employees of the enterprises themselves having performed the analyses. Big data are analysed the most by enterprises of the information and communications sector (29%), followed by water supply, sewerage, waste management and waste management enterprises (28%), and financial and insurance enterprises (21%).
The use of information technology among persons aged 16–74 and in households and enterprises is studied based on a harmonised methodology in all European Union Member States. Statistics Estonia studies the use of information technology in households and among inhabitants aged 16–74 as an independent survey since 2014 (from 2005 to 2013 it was part of the Labour Force Survey). The survey is carried out in the 2nd quarter, with the 1st quarter being the reference period. A household is a group of persons who live at the same address and share joint financial resources and whose members consider themselves to be members of one household, while a family is based on family relationships or kinship.
Statistics Estonia has surveyed the use of information technology in enterprises since 2001. In 2016, approximately 3,400 enterprises participated in the survey. The survey involves enterprises with 10 or more persons employed.