Survey – 40% of Europeans use the internet for entertainment (including online gambling)

02.03.2020

A recent Eurobarometer survey for the European Commission has found that 40% of Europeans use the internet for entertainment purposes, including online gambling.

The survey “Europeans’ attitudes towards cyber security” has a dedicated section (pages 9-32) about internet use amongst Europeans, as well as the devices they use for accessing the internet and the activities they do online.

Key findings of the survey:

• Internet use is on the rise: 76% of Europeans use the internet on a daily basis and a further 9% use it often or sometimes.
• Smartphones are the most popular means of accessing the internet: 85% of Europeans access the internet through smartphones, followed by laptops (51%), desktops (41%) and tablets (35%).
• Social activities and online banking are the most common online activities: The majority of Europeans use the internet for email use (80%), followed by reading news (62%), accessing social networks (62%), online banking (61%), buying goods or services (55%), messaging (51%), phone and video calls (41%) and entertainment (40%), including video/audio streaming and online gambling.

This trend towards greater internet and smartphone use is also reflected in the EU gambling market. In 2018, 23% of EU gambling activity was online – up from 21% in 2017 – with smartphone and tablets use increasing to 43% of all online bets – up from 39% in 2017.

 

 

The full results of the survey can found on the European Commission’s Public Opinion page and more information in the Press release.