More than half of Austrians connected to the web
More than half of Austrian youth and adults have a connection to the internet, new figures from the Austrian Internet Monitor (AIM) show.
AIM recently published its report on internet usage in Austria for 2001. It found that about 53 per cent of Austrians older than 14 have a connection to the internet. In fact, 47 per cent of the Austrians used the web last year, with 38 per cent saying they logged in several times per week. Slightly more than 40 per cent connect to the internet at home, 23 per cent at work and about nine per cent have a web connection at school.
AIM reports that 13 per cent of Austrian internet users banked online in 2001 – up substantially from 2000. Requesting account balances is the most popular application of online banking - 78 per cent make their bank transfers online - and more than seven per cent regularly buy or sell stocks online.
Of those who bank online, about 80 per cent do it from home and 20 per cent from work. About 45 per cent of the country’s internet users who don’t have an online banking account – or 400,000 Austrians - are interested in having one, the report says.
Shopping on the internet represents only a small fraction of online activity in the country. Austrians bought about E180m in products online from European retailers. E-commerce in Austria represents less than one per cent of the country’s complete retail turnover.
