Italy

There were 30,026,400 internet users in Italy (representing 49.2% of the population) in June 2011, according to Internet World Stats. (Internet world Stats, August 2011)

Of Europe's 372 million unique visitors, Italy accounted for 23.6 million unique visitors during August 2011, according to comScore. Users in Italy spent an average of 15.8 hours online in the past month, consuming 1,647 pages online. (comScore, October 2011)

48.9% of the population aged 6 and over in Italy in 2010 surfed the web, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics' annual survey on "Aspects of daily life" providing data on behaviours and the most important aspects of daily life in households carried out in February 2010. The sample included 19,000 households, representing a total of 48,000 individuals.

Strong gender, generational and territorial inequalities still persist in the use of internet, but social differences diminish. Internet use among blue collar workers passed from 40.9% in 2009 to 48.4% in 2010, while managers, entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, registered lower increases: internet use passes from 79.1% to 85.0%.

Individuals aged 6 and over who have surfed the web during the last 3 months used the internet for sending/receiving email (78.5%), learning (67.7%) and finding information about goods or service (62.8%). About four in ten internet users looked for information on websites of public authorities (38%) and posted massages in chat, blog, newsgroup (36.7%). (ISTAT - Italian National Institute of Statistics, December 2010)

The growth of ICT in Italian households has been continuing in 2010. The percentage of Italian households with internet access at home (from 47.3% to 52.4%) increased, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics' annual survey on "Aspects of daily life" providing data on behaviours and the most important aspects of daily life in households carried out in February 2010. The sample included 19,000 households, representing a total of 48,000 individuals.

In Italy strong inequalities at the territorial level still persist as regards ICT usage. For example, in 2010 in the North about 54% of households have internet access at home, while in South of Italy the percentage is 47%.

Italian households with children under 18 are the most technologically savvy: 81.8% own a PC, 74.7% have internet access at home and 63% have a broadband access.

The main reason for not having access to the internet at home is lack of skills (40.8%). 23.2% of households think internet not useful, not interesting, 13.2% do not access internet at home because they access it elsewhere, 10.2% because they consider too high equipment costs, and 8.2% because they think access costs are too high.

Italy still continues to stay behind most of the European Union countries, ranking 20^th for both internet access at home (with 59% of households with at least a member between 16 and 64 online compared with the 70%-EU average) and also for broadband access (with 49% compared with the EU-average of 61%). (ISTAT - Italian National Institute of Statistics, December 2010)

About a third of the individuals aged 14 and over who have surfed the web in Italy in 2010 during the last 12 months shopped online, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics' annual survey on "Aspects of daily life" providing data on behaviours and the most important aspects of daily life in households carried out in February 2010. The sample included 19,000 households, representing a total of 48,000 individuals. On the top ranking of goods and services purchased via the web the expenses for travel and accommodation (35.9%) gained the first position and accommodations for vacation (33.6%) ranked second, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics' annual survey on "Aspects of daily life" providing data on behaviours and the most important aspects of daily life in households carried out in February 2010. The sample included 19,000 households, representing a total of 48,000 individuals. (ISTAT - Italian National Institute of Statistics, December 2010)

Travel Booking

On the top ranking goods and services purchased via the web in Italy in 2010, the expenses for travel and accommodation (35.9%) gained the first position and accommodations for vacation (33.6%) ranked second, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics' annual survey on "Aspects of daily life" providing data on behaviours and the most important aspects of daily life in households carried out in February 2010. The sample included 19,000 households, representing a total of 48,000 individuals. (ISTAT - Italian National Institute of Statistics, December 2010)

In spite of the current economic crisis, the online travel market is one of the most active segments of the Italian travel industry and will continue to grow in 2010 at a rate of 9%, outperforming the overall market according to PhoCusWright's Italian Online Travel Overview Fifth Edition.

Air traffic and, surprisingly, rail remain the most outstanding sectors for online sales in Italy. On the other hand, tour operators and hotels lag behind. Tour operators were hit hard by the economic crisis and H1N1 in 2009 and are still hesitant to make the move online. The hotel industry which remains highly fragmented, geographically dispersed and largely independently managed, is also reticent to adopt online distribution en masse. Overall, the traditional travel agencies still hold most of the market share, but online travel agencies have started collaborating with them directly.

Italians have been slow to embrace online travel purchases for diverse reasons: broadband penetration is low and still relatively expensive; they are by nature hesitant to release personal information over the internet; traditional offline players have powerful ties and still sell the vast majority of travel related products; tour operators have been cautious about challenging conventional distribution channels; credit card usage is still relatively low and most credit cards have limited spending margins per month and the country's population is aging rapidly, resulting in slower adoption of the Internet than other markets.

Online penetration is expected to reach a full 20% by 2011. Italy will continue to lag behind more mature markets but the figure represents a significant milestone for Italian online travel. Curiously, mobile phone penetration in Italy is the highest in Europe. If the usage of smartphones takes off, online travel penetration could receive an enormous boost. (PhoCusWright FYI, March 2010)

Broadband access

The percentage of Italian households with broadband access increased (from 34.5% to 43.4%) in 2010, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics' annual survey on "Aspects of daily life" providing data on behaviours and the most important aspects of daily life in households carried out in February 2010. The sample included 19,000 households, representing a total of 48,000 individuals. (ISTAT - Italian National Institute of Statistics, December 2010)

Mobile Devices

Mobile / Smartphones

39.5% of mobile subscribers in Italy used a smartphone in the 3 month average ending August 2011, according to comScore.

Mobile Use in Italy, 3 Month Average Ending August 2011:
- Sent Text Message: 79.4%
- Used Application (excl. pre-installed): 29.8%
- Used Browser: 29.4%
- Listened to Music: 23.6%
- Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog: 20.0%
- Accessed News: 16.4%
- Played Games: 30.0%
- Used Smartphone: 39.5%

(comScore, October 2011)

UGC and Social networking

About half of the individuals in Italy who used the internet in 2010 visited social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc.) according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics' annual survey on "Aspects of daily life" providing data on behaviours and the most important aspects of daily life in households carried out in February 2010. The sample included 19,000 households, representing a total of 48,000 individuals. (ISTAT - Italian National Institute of Statistics, December 2010)