In the EU27, 65% of households had access to the internet during the first quarter of 2009, compared with 60% during the first quarter of 2008, and 56% had a broadband internet connection in 2009, compared with 49% in 2008.

Eurostat, the EU Statistical Office, said that in 2009, the proportion of households with internet access was three quarters or more in the Netherlands (90%), Luxembourg (87%), Sweden (86%), Denmark (83%), Germany (79%), Finland (78%) and the United Kingdom (77%). The lowest shares were registered in Bulgaria (30%), Greece and Romania (both 38%). Malta had 64%

The proportion of households with a broadband connection in 2009 was highest in Sweden (80%), the Netherlands (77%) and Denmark (76%). Malta's was 63%.

Almost 40% of individuals shop online

Nearly three quarters of those aged 16-24 in the EU27 used the internet on average daily or almost daily in the first quarter of 2009, compared with nearly half of all individuals aged 16-74. The highest shares for those aged 16-24 were found in the Netherlands (90%), Denmark and Estonia (both 88%), Finland and Sweden (both 87%), and the lowest in Romania (41%), Greece (57%) and Ireland (58%).

In 2009, 37% of individuals aged 16-74 in the EU27 had bought or ordered goods or services over the internet in the last 12 months. This share varied considerably between Member States, ranging from 2% in Romania, 5% in Bulgaria and 8% in Lithuania to 66% in the United Kingdom, 64% in Denmark and 63% in the Netherlands and Sweden.

In the EU27, 40% of men had ordered goods or services over the internet, compared with 34% of women. The share for men was higher than for women in almost all Member States.