Spain

There were 29,093,984 internet users in Spain (representing 71.8% of the population) in September 2009, according to Internet World Stats. This was up by 440% compared to 2000. (Internet World Stats, November 2009)

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There are an estimated 22.4 million internet users in Spain in 2009, according to eMarketer. The country ranks among the top 15 worldwide in number of internet users.

Internet users and penetration in Spain in 2008-2013:
- 2008: 21.0 million (51.9% of the population)
- 2009: 22.4 million (55.3%)
- 2010: 23.4 million (57.8%)
- 2011: 24.1 million (59.4%)
- 2012: 24.6 million (60.6%)
- 2013: 25.1 million (62.0%)
(eMarketer, June 2009)

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There were 19.921 million internet users in Spain in October/November 2009, representing 50.5% of the population, according to the 'Asociacion para la Investigacion de Medios de Comunicacion' - (AIMC). 

In October/November 2009, the majority of internet users in the country were aged between 25 and 34. Most internet users were from the middle class (45.6%), followed by middle/high class (20.7%).

Complete details on statistics on age distribution of internet users in Spain in October/November 2009 are available below:
- Aged 14-19: 12.0% of users
- Aged 20-24: 11.5% users 
- Aged 25-34: 27.7% of users 
- Aged 35-44: 22.5% of users 
- Aged 45-54: 13.8% of users 
- Aged over 55-64: 7.2% of users 
- Aged over 65: 5.2% of users
(AIMC, December 2009)

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59.8% of the population in Spain aged 16 to 74 years old (or more than 20.7 million persons) had used the internet in 2009 in the previous three months, according to the Survey on Information and Communication Technologies Equipment and Use in Households in 2009 by the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. The number of internet users increased 6% compared to 2008.

Frequent users, in other words, those who accessed the internet on a daily basis or at least once a week, represented 89.6% of the total internet users. These frequent users, approximately 18.5 million persons, represented 53.6% of the population, representing an increase of 9.5% compared to the previous year.

The Autonomous Communities above the average in Spain for internet use were Aragón, Illes Balears, Cantabria, Cataluña, Comunidad de Madrid, Comunidad Foral de Navarra and País Vasco.

Comunitat Valenciana exceeded the national average in the indicators referring to computer and  internet use in the last three months.

Percentage of ICT users by Autonomous Community, 2009 (persons who had used the internet in the last 3 months):
National total: 59.8%
- Andalucia: 54.8%
- Aragon: 62.8%
- Asturias (Principado de): 58.1%
- Balears (Illes): 65.0%
- Canarias: 56.9%
- Cantabria: 60.3%
- Castilla y Leon: 57.4%
- Castilla-La Mancha: 55.3%
- Cataluna: 66.0%
- Comunitat Valenciana: 60.5%
- Extremadura: 49.6%
- Galicia: 49.8%
- Madrid (Comunidad de): 67.8%
- Murcia (Region de): 51.4%
- Navarra (Comunidad Foral de): 65.5%
- Pais Vasco: 62.5%
- Rioja (La): 53.6%
- Ceuta: 49.3%
- Melilla: 53.6%
(Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, October 2009)

 

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comScore released its June 2008 rankings of the largest and fastest-growing internet properties and site categories in Spain based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service.

The month saw increases to the travel, consumer electronics and consumer goods site categories. Social networking site Hi5.com was the fastest growing site in Spain, up 27% in June to 2.3 million visitors, while Facebook.com also continued to gain ground, up 14% to 1.2 million visitors.  

Top Gaining Site Categories by number of Spanish unique visitors for June 2008:
TOTAL INTERNET/TOTAL AUDIENCE: 16,245,000 (+2% compared to May 2008)
- Travel – Car rental: 418,000 (+14%)
- Travel – Online travel agents: 5,977,000 (+5%)
- Retail – Consumer electronics: 2.057,000 (+5%)
- Retail – Consumer goods: 210,000 (+4%)
- Travel – Ground/cruise: 1,708,000 (+4%)
- Sports: 6,606,000 (+3%)
- Instant messengers: 10,630,000 (+3%)
- E-mail: 11,692,000 (+3%)
- Search/navigation: 13,716,000 (+2%)
- Online gaming: 4,530,000 (+2%)

Top 10 Properties by number of Spanish unique visitors for June 2008:
1. Google Sites: 13,913,000
2. Microsoft Sites: 12,991,000
3. Yahoo! Sites: 7,894,000
4. Terra Networks: 7,265,000
5. Orange Sites: 6,340,000
6. Grupo Prisa: 6,128,000
7. SCHIBSTED Group: 5,820,000
8. Wikipedia Sites: 5,759,000
9. Grupo Intercom: 5,428,000
10. eBay: 4,574,000
(comScore, August 2008)

 

 

The majority of Spanish internet users in October/November 2009 had home internet access (access the internet in the last month), according to the Asociacion para la Investigacion de Medios de Comunicacion - AIMC:
- 85.2% had home internet access.
- 25.2% had access to the internet at work.
- 6.3% accessed the internet from University/school.
- 12.9% had access to the internet from other locations.
(Each internet user may have access to the internet from different locations).
(AIMC, December 2009)

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The Asociacion para la Investigacion de Medios de Comunicacion - AIMC provided information on internet penetration level in the different Spanish autonomous regions (Communidades) in 2009:
- Andalucia: 44.0%
- Aragon: 51.3% 
- Asturias: 45.8%
- Baleares: 53.9% 
- Canarias: 52.4% 
- Cantabrica: 50.3%
- Castilla/Leon: 43.2% 
- Castilla/Mancha: 41.8% 
- Cataluña: 57.0% 
- Comunidad Valenciana: 46.9% 
- Extremadura: 35.9% 
- Galicia: 42.0% 
- Madrid: 57.8% 
- Murcia: 39.3% 
- Navarra: 53.8% 
- Pais Vasco: 55.4% 
- La Rioja: 51.7%
(AIMC, December 2009)

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54% of Spanish households (or 8.3 million) with at least one member between the ages of 16 and 74 years old had internet access in 2009, as compared with 51% in the previous year, according to the Survey on Information and Communication Technologies Equipment and Use in Households in 2009 by the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica.

The Autonomous Communities with the highest percentage of dwellings with internet access were Comunidad de Madrid (64.3%) and Cataluña (62.7%). In addition, País Vasco, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, Illes Balears, Cantabria, Principado de Asturias, Canarias, and Aragón showed a rate higher than the average (54.0%).

The main reasons for households not to have internet access were that they did not believe that they needed one (39.8% gave this as the reason) and the connection was too expensive (31.0%). (Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, October 2009)

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There were 19,726,429 active internet home users in Spain in June 2009, according to Nielsen Online. This was down by 0.51% compared to the previous month. (ClickZ, August 2009)

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51% of households in Spain had access to the internet during the first quarter of 2008, according to the results of the survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage by Eurostat. This was up from 45% in 2007 and 39% in 2006. (Eurostat, December 2008) 

54.7% of the online population in Spain in October/November 2009 was male, according to the Asociacion para la Investigacion de Medios de Comunicacion - AIMC. (AIMC, December 2009)

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The gender digital divide decreased in 2009 in the main indicators analysed including computer use, internet use and frequent internet use, according to the Survey on Information and Communication Technologies Equipment and Use in Households in 2009 by the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica.

The gender digital divide (percentage difference between men and women) in internet use stood at 7.2 in 2009 compared to 7.9 in 2008; while the figure stood at 8.6% in 2009 for frequent internet use compared to 8.9 in 2008. (Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, October 2009)

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 16:48