This release has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this release reflect the changes in household and individual ICT usage resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. For further information see Background Notes.
| Percentage of internet users classified by type of internet activity January and March 2020 | |||
| % internet users | |||
| Jan 2020 | Mar 2020 | ||
| Reading or downloading online news | 74 | 76 | |
| Watching YouTube type content | 65 | 70 | |
| Social networking | 66 | 68 | |
| Watching video on demand | 55 | 57 | |
| Watching internet streamed TV live or catch up | 54 | 55 | |
| Uploading self-created content | 31 | 38 | |
| Playing or downloading games | 23 | 30 | |
Results of the Impact of COVID-19 on ICT usage by Households, January and March 2020, were published on 15th May and reports on the key features of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected ICT usage by households and individuals in the State. This analysis provided early indicators of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on households’ and individuals' use of the internet during this period, including internet activities, internet purchases, use of e-Government and online learning. This release focusses on how certain internet activities have affected virtual life in the home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This release compares data collected during the three weeks following initial Government measures put in place to contain the COVID-19 pandemic (three weeks commencing 16th March) with a similar period in January (three weeks commencing 20th January). Some main results include:
Over three quarters (76%) of internet users reported Reading or downloading online news in March, compared to 74% surveyed in January.
Uploading self-created content (such as photos, music, videos, text to any website to be shared) saw an increase of seven percentage points to 38% of internet users, compared to 31% in January.
Seven in every ten (70%) internet users Watched YouTube type content, an increase of five percentage points on the corresponding survey period in January.
Watching video on demand (from commercial services such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO GO, Amazon Prime) was reported by 57% of internet users, compared to 55% in January.
The introduction in mid-March of the COVID-19 emergency measures meant that all non-essential retail outlets were closed, except for those providing essential services. Social distancing measures were introduced in shops that remained open and measures, such as limiting the number of persons in shops, were introduced by various retail outlets.
During this ‘lockdown’ period, people are increasingly accessing news using online news channels. Over three quarters (76%) of internet users reported Reading or downloading online news (including online news sites, newspapers or magazines), an increase of two percentage points on the corresponding figure for January. See Figure 1.
Analysis by age group of the internet activity Reading or downloading online news shows that the biggest increase during the COVID-19 pandemic was for persons aged 16 to 44 years (90%), an increase of eight percentage points on the same survey period in January. Almost seven in every ten (69%) internet users aged 45 to 59 years used the internet for this purpose, an increase of three percentage points on January. See Figure 2.
Reading or downloading online news was carried out by 82% of males, an increase of two percentage points on the survey period in January. This compares with 71% of females using the internet for this activity in March, just up one percentage point when compared with usage in January. See Figure 2.
| January 2020 | March 2020 | |
| Male | 80 | 82 |
| Female | 70 | 71 |
| Aged 16-44 | 82 | 90 |
| Aged 45-59 | 66 | 69 |
| Aged 60+ | 70 | 64 |
During the ‘lockdown’ period, people were asked to stay at home except for daily exercise once per day and essential trips only. These measures have impacted on how persons communicated with each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social networking (includes creating user profiles, posting messages or other contributions to Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.) increased in March – 68% compared to 66% in January. See Figure 1.
Increase in the use of the internet for Social networking was greatest for persons aged 16 to 44 years, 87% in March, compared to 79% in January, an increase of eight percentage points. Nearly two thirds (64%) of internet users aged 45 to 59 years used this online channel of communication, compared with 62% in January. See Figure 3.
| January 2020 | March 2020 | |
| Male | 66 | 63 |
| Female | 66 | 73 |
| Aged 16-44 | 79 | 87 |
| Aged 45-59 | 62 | 64 |
| Aged 60+ | 48 | 39 |
In March, almost half (49%) of internet users aged 16 to 44 years reported Uploading self-created content (such as photos, music, videos, text to any website to be shared), compared to 38% in January. Usage of this internet activity almost doubled for persons in the 45 to 59 years age group – 36% in March compared with 19% in January. See Figure 4.
There was a marked increase in males’ use of this internet activity, with 43% reporting using the internet for this purpose in March, an increase of 13 percentage points on the same survey period in January. There was a smaller increase reported for females, 34% in March compared to 32% in January. See Figure 4.
| January 2020 | March 2020 | |
| Male | 30 | 43 |
| Female | 32 | 34 |
| Aged 16-44 | 38 | 49 |
| Aged 45-59 | 19 | 36 |
| Aged 60+ | 32 | 24 |
With more people having to stay at home, our use of the internet for entertainment has increased. Watching YouTube type content increased in March during the COVID-19 pandemic – 70% of persons aged 16 years and over in March compared to 65% in the corresponding period in January, an increase of five percentage points. See Figure 1.
Analysis by sex shows that increase in this internet activity was greatest for males, with over three quarters (77%) of males Watching YouTube type content, an increase of six percentage points on January. By comparison, 62% of females reported Watching YouTube type content in March, compared to 59% in the corresponding survey period in January. See Figure 5.
The overall increase in the number of persons Watching YouTube type content is in the 16 to 44 years age group, where over nine in every ten (91%) internet users surveyed in March reported Watching YouTube type content, an increase of sixteen percentage points on the survey period in January (75%). There were slight decreases for this internet activity for the 45 to 59 years and the 60 years and over age groups. There was a three percentage point decrease for persons aged 45 to 59 (63% in March compared to 66% in January), while there was a two percentage point decrease in older persons aged 60 years and over doing this activity - 44% in March compared with 46% in January. See Figure 5.
| January 2020 | March 2020 | |
| Male | 71 | 77 |
| Female | 59 | 62 |
| Aged 16-44 | 75 | 91 |
| Aged 45-59 | 66 | 63 |
| Aged 60+ | 46 | 44 |
Watching internet streamed TV live or catch up (from TV broadcasters) was carried out by 55% of internet users in March, while 57% were Watching video on demand (from commercial services such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO GO, Amazon Prime). See Figure 1.
In March, there was a fifteen percentage point increase in internet users aged 60 years and over who were Watching internet streamed TV live or catch up, 46% compared to 29% in January, while 37% of that age group were Watching video on demand in March compared to 29% in January. In contrast, there was a slight decrease in March in the percentage of persons in this age group who watched YouTube type content - 44% compared to 46% in January. See Figures 5, 6 and 7.
| January 2020 | March 2020 | |
| Male | 58 | 54 |
| Female | 50 | 56 |
| Aged 16-44 | 76 | 72 |
| Aged 45-59 | 45 | 39 |
| Aged 60+ | 29 | 46 |
| January 2020 | March 2020 | |
| Male | 57 | 56 |
| Female | 54 | 57 |
| Aged 16-44 | 74 | 75 |
| Aged 45-59 | 51 | 47 |
| Aged 60+ | 29 | 37 |
Playing or downloading games was carried out by 30% of internet users surveyed in March, an increase of seven percentage points on the corresponding survey period in January. See Figure 1.
The overall increase in this internet activity in March related to the 16 to 44 years age group, where 55% of this age group used the internet for Playing or downloading games – a 20 percentage points increase on January levels. Male internet users Playing or downloading games almost doubled in March, compared with the corresponding survey period in January – 36% compared to 20% in January. By comparison, there was a slight decrease in this internet activity for female internet users – 24% compared with 26% in January. See Figure 8.
| January 2020 | March 2020 | |
| Male | 20 | 36 |
| Female | 26 | 24 |
| Aged 16-44 | 35 | 55 |
| Aged 45-59 | 15 | 14 |
| Aged 60+ | 13 | 12 |
Background
This release reports on selected key features of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected ICT usage by households and individuals in the State. It is based on the results of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey, which collects data on households' access to, and individuals' use of the internet. The results of this survey are reported upon annually by the CSO and are based on a full quarter's data but, to give users key insights into the changes in household and individual ICT usage arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CSO quickly analysed the results of this survey for 3 weeks in January and 3 weeks in March, beginning the 16th March following the closure of schools, colleges, childcare facilities, cultural institutions, etc. and the commencement of the initial measures put in place by the Government, including stay at home measures and only essential workers continuing to go to their place of work.
Results of the Impact of COVID-19 on ICT Usage by Households, January and March 2020, were published in May and reported on the key features of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected ICT usage by households and individuals in the State. This analysis provided early indicators of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on households’ and individuals' use of the internet during this period, including internet activities, internet purchases, use of e-Government and online learning. The analysis in this release focusses on how certain internet activities have affected virtual life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total achieved sample size for the ICT Household Survey headline indicator questions in Quarter 1 was 11,773 households, while the achieved sample size for the questions detailing individual ICT usage was 812. This represents 13 weeks of data collection. It should be noted that the analysis in this publication is based on just six weeks of data, 3 weeks in January and 3 weeks in March.
Purpose of ICT Household Survey
The annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Household Survey 2020 contributes to the EU requirement under Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 concerning Community Statistics on the Information Society (OJ L143, 30.04.2004, p. 49).
The survey covers a range of topics related to internet penetration and the use of ICT by households and individuals, and provides information on households’ and individuals’ use of the internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Questionnaire
The survey questionnaire is based on implementing Regulation (EU) No 808/2004 and the annual Model Questionnaire on ICT usage by households and by individuals, provided by Eurostat https://circabc.europa.eu/sd/a/0a29aaab-924a-4b88-851d-db28bf144748/ICT-HH 2018_Model Questionnaire V1.4.pdf
The Eurostat Model Questionnaire has a core set of questions, which are asked on an annual basis. Survey questions change from year to year to reflect changes in the use of technology and use of the internet, and to obtain new, relevant information on different topics relating to the use of the internet and technology. Additional modules on ICT are repeated annually, biennially or triennially. In addition, special modules or topics on new emerging concepts or technologies are also included each year. Additional questions of national interest are also included in the national questionnaire.
Survey Design
The survey instrument used to carry out the ICT Household Survey has changed since the survey was last carried out in 2019, when it was carried out using the General Household Survey (GHS). In Quarter 1 2020, the ICT Household survey was carried out using the Labour Force Survey (LFS), using both Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) and Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). The GHS is carried out in CAPI mode only. For the purposes of achieving sufficient sample size and Eurostat reporting requirements, the ICT Household survey is included in the LFS survey vehicle for two quarters in 2020, Quarters 1 and 2, instead of just Quarter 1. Quarter 2 data collection is still in the field.
The LFS data collection is carried out in 5 waves over 5 quarters. The headline indicator questions of the ICT Household Survey on household internet connectivity and frequency of individual usage of the internet were asked of all waves of the LFS in Quarter 1, and all other questions on the ICT Household Survey on detailed ICT usage were asked of wave 5 respondents only. This change has affected sample size. While the achieved sample size for the headline indicator questions has substantially increased - 11,773 in Quarter 1 2020 compared with an achieved sample size of 3,971 respondents in Quarter 1 2019, achieved sample size for the main ICT Household questionnaire was much lower - 812 respondents. Note however that for the purposes of the national publication later in the year and Eurostat reporting requirements, data from two quarters Quarter 1 and 2 will be used.
Reference Period
In 2020. the ICT Household Survey is being carried out in the six months from January to June (Quarters 1 and 2). In previous years, the survey was carried out only in the three months from January to March (Quarter 1).
The questionnaire asks questions about ICT activities for the reference period of three months prior to the interview taking place.
Survey Coverage
The ICT Household Survey data is collected directly from private households. Institutional households, (e.g. nursing homes, barracks, boarding schools, hotels etc.) are not covered by the survey. A household is defined as a single person or group of people who usually reside together in the same accommodation and who share the same catering arrangements. The household members are not necessarily related by blood or marriage.
A person is defined as a "Usual Resident" of a private household if he or she:
One person from each household was selected. Information was collected directly from respondents - proxy responses from other members of the household were not accepted.
Sample Design
In 2020, the ICT Household Survey was carried out using the LFS survey vehicle. Full details of the LFS survey design are available in the Labour Force Survey.
In the LFS, households are asked to take part in the survey for 5 consecutive quarters (5 waves). For the purposes of achieving sufficient sample size and Eurostat reporting requirements, the ICT Household Survey is included in the LFS survey vehicle for two quarters in 2020, Quarters 1 and 2, instead of just Quarter 1. The headline indicator questions on household internet connectivity and frequency of individual usage of the internet were asked of all waves of the LFS in Quarter 1, and all other questions on the ICT Household survey on usage of the internet were asked of wave 5 respondents only.
However, due to the early publication of these results, population estimates are not yet available for Quarter 1 2020 so, for the purposes of weighting the data to the overall population, Quarter 4 2019 LFS weighted data was used and extrapolated to an estimate of population numbers for Quarter 1 2020.
Derivation of Results
The total achieved sample size for the ICT Household Survey headline indicator questions in Quarter 1 was 11,773 households, while the achieved sample size for the questions detailing individual ICT usage was 812. This represents 13 weeks of data collection. It should be noted that the analysis in this publication is based on just 6 weeks of data, 3 weeks in January and 3 weeks in March (following the introduction of Government measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic).
Acknowledgement
The Central Statistics Office wishes to thank the participating households for their co-operation in agreeing to take part in the survey and for facilitating the collection of the relevant data.
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