Email remains the most popular internet activity with 93% of internet users who were surveyed in 2023 saying they used email, up from 91% in 2022.
Finding information about goods or services was the second most popular internet activity in 2023 at 90%, followed by internet or mobile banking (including PayPal, Revolut, Apple Pay, etc.) at 88%.
Clothes, shoes, or accessories (including bags, jewellery, etc.) continues to be the most common purchase online according to 69% of internet users.
Females were more likely than males to do an online course (such as audio-visual materials, online learning software, electronic textbooks) at 25% compared with 23% of males.
Almost eight in ten internet users used electronic identification (eID) to access online services provided by the public/private sectors, of which almost nine in ten (87%) has used eID such as MyGovID, MyAccount, etc. to access online services provided by public authorities/services.
Use of streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ or downloads increased by five percentage points on 2022 up to 48% of internet users, compared with 43% in 2022.
Four in ten (40%) said they had filed their tax return or self-assessment online themselves while over one quarter said that it was done automatically such as by their employer.
Renting accommodation from a private person (via website or app such as on Airbnb, RoomShare, CouchSurfing, etc.) decreased in 2023. Around 10% of internet users reported booking accommodation online in this way in 2023 compared with 15% in 2022.
This publication is the second of three publications presenting the results of the annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey, which was carried out in the first three quarters of 2023. The first publication, Internet Access and Usage in Ireland 2023, was published on 24 November 2023 and covered household internet access, individuals’ frequency of internet usage. Household Internet Security and Information Integrity 2023 will be published on 20 December 2023 and will provide results on internet security and the measures taken by individuals to safeguard their privacy and protect their personal data when using the internet.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (12 December 2023) released Digital Consumer Behaviour 2023, which is the second of a series of publications presenting the results of the annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey (See Editor’s Note below for more details).
The 2023 ICT Household Survey was carried out in the first three quarters of 2023. The data in this publication relates to the experience of persons who access the internet. This publication focuses on the internet usage of persons aged 16 years and over who have used the internet within the previous three months and examines their digital consumer behaviour. It also covers individuals’ use of e-commerce including sharing economy, internet activities, ICT skills and online learning, and people’s use of e-Government.
Commenting on the results, Maureen Delamere, Statistician in the Social Analysis Division, said: "When the survey was last carried out, there were varying levels of COVID-19 restrictions still in place, so this is the first post-COVID-19 publication carried out during a time when all restrictions had been lifted. The pandemic had resulted in greater use of ICT and the internet, and, at times, different patterns of digital consumer behaviour.
At an overall level, more than nine in ten (92%) persons aged 16 years and older used the internet within the previous three months (from when they took part in the survey). Just 1% had used the internet but not recently (not within the previous three months) and only one in fourteen (7%) had never used the internet.
Buying Goods and Services Online
Post-COVID-19, despite the return to on-street retail, shopping online at an overall level only decreased marginally – 78% of internet users purchased goods and/or services online in 2023, compared with 81% in the same period in 2022.
While email remained the most popular internet activity in 2023, finding information about goods or services overtook internet banking as the second most popular internet activity in 2023. Around 93% of internet users used email, followed by 90% of internet users who went online seeking information about goods or services (87% in 2022), while 88% used internet or mobile banking (including PayPal, Revolut, Apple Pay, etc.).
The online purchase of clothes (including sports clothing), shoes, or accessories (including bags, jewellery, etc.) remains the most popular use of ICT for online purchases at almost seven in ten (69%) of internet users. There was a notable difference between the number of males and females buying clothes, shoes, or accessories online at 74% of females compared with 60% of males. Males were far more likely to buy sports goods online - over one-quarter of males (27%) bought sports goods online compared with 17% of females.
Online purchasing from national sellers is still by far the most common source of purchase and has increased its position at the top of the online e-commerce market in 2023. Nearly four in five (78%) persons bought or ordered their goods from national sellers in 2023, up two percentage points on the same period in 2022.
Use of streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ or downloads rose by five percentage points on 2022 to 48% of internet users, compared with 43% in 2022.
Online Communications
Email remains the most popular activity carried out on the internet. Around 93% of internet users in 2023 used email compared with 91% in the same period in 2022. With the return to school and work (albeit partially remote for many workers), there has been a drop in the use of internet telephoning/video calls (Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, etc) to 76% in 2023 down from a high of 85% in 2022, 80% in 2021, and 73% in 2020.
Online formal training decreased in 2023. One-quarter (25%) of internet users reported doing an online course in 2023, down six percentage points on the same period in 2022 (31%), while 36% of internet users reported using online learning resources (such as e-textbooks or online learning software), down from 38% of internet users in 2022.
Online Booking of Accommodation and Transport
There was a rebound in the use of the accommodation sharing economy in 2023. Some 10% of internet users reported they had rented accommodation (room, apartment, house, holiday cottage, etc.) from a private person on a digital platform (for example RoomShare). This compares with just 4% of internet users in 2021 and 10% in 2020. Just 2% of internet users engaged in the transport collaborative economy activity (via a digital platform such as BlaBla Car, LiftShare, etc.), compared with 1% of internet users in 2021 and 4% in 2020.
e-Government and Use of eID
Almost eight in ten internet users used electronic identification (eID) to access online services provided by the public/private sectors, of which almost nine in ten (87%) has used eID such as MyGovID, MyAccount, etc. to access online services provided by public authorities/services. Four in ten had filed their tax return or self-assessment online themselves. Over one-quarter said it was done automatically such as by their employer without any need for intervention by the respondent. More than eight in ten (82%) of non-nationals had used eID to access public services compared with 88% or persons whose nationality was Irish.
More than one-third (35%) of internet users who had not used eID in the previous 12 months had not heard of eID or electronic identification, while a further 54% were aware of eID but did not have one.
Of internet users who had used eID in the previous 12 months, almost all (95%) had used eID for accessing services provided by banking or financial institutions, login to transport services, identification via eID e.g., on a digital marketplace such as Facebook Marketplace, etc.”