ATHENS- Almost eight in ten Greek households (78.5 pct) have internet access in their homes, up 2.6 pct from 2018, while a spectacular 69.2 pct increase has been recorded in the last 10 years (2010-2019), Hellenic Statistical Authority said in a survey released on Friday.

The survey said that 78.1 pct of Greek households have a broadband connection with at least one member -aged 16-74 years old – an increase of 2.6 pct form 2018. The survey said that the main reasons for non-access to the internet from home were the following: lack of skill, lack of useful information and a high cost of equipment. The survey showed that 75.7 pct of people aged 16-74 years old accessed the internet in the first quater of 2019, up 4.8 pct from 2018 (72.2 pct). Of those, 83.4 pct using the internet in the first quarter had a mobile connection (up 9.0 pct from 2018), of which 94.6 pct used a smart phone, 33.1 pct a laptop, 20.2 pct a tablet and 1.6 pct used any other device.

The reasons for accessing the internet were: seeking information on products and services (88.3 pct), reading online news (87.7 pct), receiving e-messages (77.9 pct), using the social media (74.9 pct), music (72.9 pct), messaging (72 pct), web camera use (66.8 pct), health information (65.9 pct), uploading (46.2 pct), bank transactions (40.3 pct), blogging (13.1 pct), online consultation (3.8 pct), and the selling of goods and services through auctions (3.2 pct).