Fewer enterprises were selling online last year when compared to 2014, according to a survey published by the National Statistics Office.

The survey, among enterprises employing at least 10 people, registered a 1.4 per cent drop in enterprises selling online.

It found that 96.9 per cent of such enterprises used the internet last year, and 97.8 per cent used computers.

Computer and internet usage rates remained almost unchanged when compared with 2014 albeit for enterprises employing more than 249 persons.

In this case, 100 per cent usage levels were achieved.

Results showed that enterprises were opting for higher maximum contracted download speeds when choosing internet services.

A total 81.2 per cent of enterprises had mobile access to the internet, increasing by 1.1 percentage points over 2014. Enterprises provided a mobile connection to the internet to 36.1 per cent of their workforce.

As a result, 13,144 employees were capable of connecting remotely to the internet using a connection provided by their employer. This translated into an average of 12 employees per enterprise.

The survey also showed that 73.5 per cent of surveyed enterprises using the internet also made use of social networks, while 1,149 or 85.7 per cent of enterprises using internet had their own website.

In 2015, 37.5 per cent more enterprises were making use of cloud computing services when compared to the previous year.

This survey also provided evidence of an increase in enterprises employing ICT specialists (1.1 percentage points) and an increase in enterprises providing ICT related training to their employees.