According to the Federal Statistical Office, 65% of all Germans over the age of ten used the internet in the first quarter of 2006. In the same period of 2005 this number was just 61%.Of these users 56% went online every day or almost every day which corresponds to a 50% increase as compared to the previous year.
There are big internet use differences in the several age brackets. In the first quarter of 2006 92% of people aged between 10 and 24 went online. To more than half of all users of this age bracket (55%) the internet was part of their everyday life and they made use of it daily or almost every day. Similarly high was the percentage of internet users in the age bracket ranging from 25 to 54. In this group 80% went online in the first quarter of 2006, 58% of which daily or almost every day.
However, the situation is different with regard to the generation over 54 years of age for which the share of internet users amounted to just 30% in the first quarter of 2006. What is interesting is that even in this age bracket almost half of all users (48%) went online daily or almost daily.
Besides age gender is a factor determining the degree of internet usage. In the first quarter of 2006 60% of women and 71% of men used the internet. Furthermore, there is a difference between women and men as far as the frequency of internet access is concerned. Thus, 49% of women and 61% of men went online daily or almost every day.
For private purposes most people used the internet in the first quarter of 2006 for electronic communication and for the procurement of information on products and services. 85% of these users sent and received emails and 83% searched for information on goods and services. Also quite popular among internet users were the use of travel services (55%) as well as online banking (42%). 