Brussels, 15/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Internet access is widespread in the EU and today people use the internet for a wide range of activities, including ordering goods and services online. As part of the European Year of Citizens 2013, the week of 14-20 October has been dedicated to “Shopping online”. To mark this event, Eurostat has published data on online purchases by individuals. It reveals that, in the EU28 in 2012, 75% of individuals aged 16 to 74 had used the internet in the previous 12 months, and nearly 60% of these internet users reported that they had shopped online. The highest shares of online shoppers were registered in the United Kingdom (82% of internet users), Denmark and Sweden (both 79%), Germany (77%), Luxembourg (73%) and Finland (72%), and the lowest in Romania (11%), Bulgaria (17%), Estonia and Italy (both 29%).
Ordering clothes and sports goods and booking travel and holiday accommodation are the most common online purchases amongst internet users, one third of internet users having purchased online during the previous 12 months (32% in 2012 compared with 21% in 2008). Almost one quarter of internet users in the EU28 reported that they bought books, magazines or e-learning material from the internet (23% in 2012 compared with 19% in 2008), while fewer than one internet user in ten ordered food & groceries online (9% in 2012 compared with 6% in 2008). (IL/transl.fl)