A recent Eurostat survey found that Maltese users of internet were well above the EU average to get news and read the papers on the internet.

While only 61% of the average European audience goes to the internet for news or to read newspapers, 76% of Maltese users do so.

Malta is also above average as regards internet banking, with 60% of the Maltese doing so as against a 54% in the EU 27 member states.

And, of course, the Maltese are heavy users of the social media – 64% said they posted messages to the social media over the past three months as against the 52% who did so in the EU27.

Internet access and use is widespread among the EU population. In the EU27, more than three quarters of households had access to the internet in 2012, compared with just under half in 2006.

The proportion of households who have a broadband internet connection has increased more significantly. In 2012, 72% of EU27 households had access to the internet via a broadband connection, compared with 30% in 2006.

In Malta’s case, internet access rose from 53% in 2006 to 64% in 2009 to 77% in 2012. Broadband connection rose from 41% in 2906 to 63% in 2009 and 77% in 2012.

While the level of internet access increased in all member states between 2006 and 2012, differences however remain significant. In 2012, shares of internet access of 90% and over were recorded in the Netherlands (94%), Luxembourg (93%) and Denmark and Sweden (both 92%), while shares just over 50% were registered in Bulgaria (51%), Greece and Romania (both 54%).

Broadband internet access enables higher speed when browsing and performing activities over the internet. In 2012, in every member state at least half of households had a broadband connection. Sweden (87%) registered the highest share of broadband connections, followed by Denmark and Finland (both 85%), the Netherlands (83%), Germany (82%) and the United Kingdom (80% in 2011).

Finally, Lithuania (92% of internet users) and Estonia (91%) had the highest percentages of those having used the internet in 2012 for reading online news and newspapers, while France had the lowest proportion (38%).

Finland was the leading member state for internet banking (91% of internet users) and online travel services (69%). Portugal had the largest share of internet users who posted messages to social media (75% of internet users), while the Czech Republic (35%), France (40%) and Germany (42%) were the lowest. The Netherlands (17%) and Hungary (16%) recorded a proportion of internet users who created websites and blogs in 2012 that was almost double the EU27 average.