Household Digital Consumer Behaviour 2024

Finding information on goods/services shares top spot with email as most popular internet activity in 2024

Key findings of internet users who used the internet in the last three months:

• Email and finding information on goods and services were the most popular internet activities in 2024 – over nine in ten (94%) internet users used email/were seeking information online on goods or services. The number of internet users using the internet to find information on goods and services jumped four percentage points from when the survey was last carried out in 2023.
• More than eight in ten internet users aged 75 years and over, had used email (82%) in the previous three months, while 83% had used the internet to find information on goods and services. Over half (54%) of older persons aged 75 and over were recent internet users – had used the internet in the previous three months.
• Internet or mobile banking (includes PayPal, Revolut, Apple Pay, etc.) and instant messaging were the second most popular internet activity at 87%.
• Older persons aged 60 to 74 years increased their use of internet banking in 2024 - 87% compared with 83% in 2023, while almost eight in ten (79%) of internet users aged 75 years and over were using internet or mobile banking.
• Almost all younger internet users aged 16 to 29 years were using instant messaging such as via SMS, Skype, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Viber – 97% compared with almost two-thirds (63%) of older internet users aged 75 years and over. Similarly, almost all (95%) were social networking online in 2024, compared with less than four in ten (38%) of internet users aged 75 years and over.
• Households with children were far more likely to use social networking - 83% used X, Meta, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc., to communicate online in 2024. See Figure 2.1, Table 2.1, and PX Stat Tables for comparisons with 2023.

More people looking online for health-related information

Key findings of internet users who used the internet in the last three months:

• Over two-thirds (68%) of internet users are now going online seeking health related information on for example injury, disease, nutrition, improving health, etc., an increase of eight percentage points on the same period in 2023. 
• Females were far more likely than males to go online to look up health related information – 75% of females compared with 60% of males.
• Of older internet users, almost two thirds (65%) of respondents aged 60 to 74 years, and 57% of persons aged 75 years and over had gone online seeking health-related information in 2024.
• Over seven in ten (73%) are using social networking (includes creating user profiles, posting messages or other contributions to Meta, X, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, etc.) to communicate with friends, family, work and school groups, etc., an increase of two percentage points on the same period in 2023.
• Almost all (95%) younger internet users aged 16 to 29 years were social networking online in 2024, compared with less than four in ten (38%) of internet users aged 75 years or over.
• Females use social networking to a greater extent than males – three quarters (75%) of females compared with 71% of male internet users. See Table 2.2, Figure 2.2, and PX Stat Tables for comparisons with 2023.

One in five use the internet to express opinions on civic/political issues and one in six for online consultations/voting

Key findings of internet users who used the internet in the last three months:

• One in five (20%) internet users expressed opinions online (on websites or in social media such as Meta, X, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) on civic or political issues, up one percentage point on 2023 (19%) while over one in six (16%) took part in online consultations or voting (to define civic or political issues such as urban planning, signing a petition, etc.), compared with one in eight (12%) in 2023.
• Analysis by age shows that persons aged 30 to 44 years were more likely to expressed opinions online (on websites or in social media) on civic or political issues (24%), compared with older persons aged 60 to 74 years (14%).
• Males were more likely than females to express opinions online on civic or political issues – 22% of males compared with 18% of females. See Figure 2.2 & Table 2.2.