Commentary
Since the question was introduced in 2001, the percentage of adults who make use of the internet for personal use has risen steadily from 31 per cent in the first quarter of 2001 to almost 73 per cent in the third quarter of 2010. Men make greater personal use of the internet than women with the figures for men generally being around six percentage points higher than those for women, although this gap has narrowed considerably over the years.
The apparent quarter-to-quarter fluctuations in the figures may well be the result of sampling variability. Quarter-to-quarter changes should therefore be interpreted with caution.
Data
Adults who make personal use of the internet (%)
| Year | Qtr | | Men (16+) | Women (16+) | All (16+) |
| | | | | |
| 2001 | Qtr 1 | | 36.8 | 26.4 | 31.4 |
| Qtr 2 | | 36.8 | 27.9 | 32.1 |
| Qtr 3 | | 39.1 | 29.9 | 34.2 |
| Qtr 4 | | 40.7 | 30.3 | 35.3 |
| 2002 | Qtr 1 | | 41.5 | 33.3 | 37.2 |
| Qtr 2 | | 41.2 | 31.1 | 35.9 |
| Qtr 3 | | 43.4 | 34.3 | 38.5 |
| Qtr 4 | | 48.0 | 38.4 | 43.0 |
| 2003 | Qtr 1 | | 47.5 | 38.9 | 43.0 |
| Qtr 2 | | 52.7 | 43.1 | 47.7 |
| Qtr 3 | | 52.4 | 42.4 | 47.1 |
| Qtr 4 | | 50.4 | 45.9 | 48.1 |
| 2004 | Qtr 1 | | 53.5 | 43.3 | 48.2 |
| Qtr 2 | | 51.3 | 47.0 | 49.1 |
| Qtr 3 | | 49.6 | 44.2 | 46.6 |
| Qtr 4 | | 56.3 | 49.3 | 52.6 |
| 2005 | Qtr 1 | | 54.6 | 46.2 | 50.2 |
| Qtr 2 | | 56.3 | 49.6 | 52.8 |
| Qtr 3 | | 58.9 | 49.5 | 54.0 |
| Qtr 4 | | 60.5 | 52.5 | 56.3 |
| 2006 | Qtr 1 | | 58.3 | 51.5 | 54.8 |
| Qtr 2 | | 60.7 | 51.4 | 55.8 |
| Qtr 3 | | 62.1 | 54.9 | 58.3 |
| Qtr 4 | | 61.0 | 58.4 | 59.6 |
| 2007 | Qtr 1 | | 62.7 | 58.4 | 60.3 |
| Qtr 2 | | 68.0 | 58.9 | 63.1 |
| Qtr 3 | | 64.0 | 59.0 | 61.4 |
| Qtr 4 | | 68.6 | 61.3 | 64.8 |
| 2008 | Qtr 1 | | 67.1 | 58.1 | 62.5 |
| Qtr 2 | | 68.7 | 62.7 | 65.4 |
| Qtr 3 | | 69.6 | 63.3 | 66.3 |
| Qtr 4 | | 74.6 | 65.4 | 69.8 |
| 2009 | Qtr 1 | | 70.3 | 67.5 | 68.8 |
| Qtr 2 | | 69.6 | 65.9 | 67.7 |
| Qtr 3 | | 72.8 | 66.6 | 69.5 |
| Qtr 4 | | 73.3 | 70.2 | 71.7 |
| 2010 | Qtr 1 | | 72.3 | 72.2 | 72.3 |
| Qtr 2 | | 76.2 | 71.1 | 73.6 |
| Qtr 3 | | 75.3 | 70.6 | 72.9 |
Percent of adult population
Notes
This question was first introduced in 2001
The question was moved in 2007 to the Random Adult section of the interview