One In Five Bulgarians Has Access To the Internet

The number of households owning a computer rose 2% in 2007, compared with 2006, according to the National Statistics Institute (NSI).

More people are using the internet as well. On March 31 last year 19% of households in Bulgaria had access to the global net.

80% of internet users rely on broadband connection, which is 20% up from 2006. The desktop computer is the most common in Bulgaria – 94% use it versus 9% who prefer a laptop.

74.5% of respondents said that during the past three months they used internet at home, and 42% said they used it at work.

Of modern technologies the fastest spreading in Bulgaria is the use of mobile phones – 70.3% of Bulgarians between the ages of 16 and 74 own one.

The number of people who actively use the internet in Bulgaria doubled in the past 3 years.

The majority of internet users in the country are young people – 32% of those who log on every day are between 16 and 24 years of age, followed by the 25 – 34 year old (27%). Interest in new technologies seems to decline as age progresses – just 0.6% of people aged 65 – 74 used internet in the past 3 months.

Communication is what Bulgarians mostly use the Net for. E-mailing is still the most common type of communication, however, the messenger systems are gaining more popularity. Download of games, films and music is the second most common internet activity.

What prevents people from using the Net? Most people say it's lack of time. Another great obstacle is the language barrier.

Bulgaria is among the countries that rank last in Europe in terms of on-line shopping. One in two Bulgarians who regularly use the Net said they looked for goods or services, but just 7.6% said they actually purchased something online. What Bulgarians mostly buy online are books and magazines, followed by movies, music, clothes, trips and hhotel reservations.

37.7% of users think their computer skills are good. Most of them say they learned to use computers by themselves or with the help of friends or relatives. Computer courses do not seem to be very popular.