About 60% of EU households have Internet access

BRUSSELS, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Some 60 percent of households in the European Union (EU) had access to the Internet in the first quarter of 2008, compared with 54 percent in the same period last year, said the EU's statistics bureau Eurostat on Tuesday.

Almost half of the households had a broadband connection in the first quarter of 2008, compared with 42 percent in the same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2008, the highest proportions of households with Internet access were recorded in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, being 86 percent, 84 percent and 82 percent, respectively.

While the lowest levels were registered in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, with 25 percent, 30 percent and 31 percent respectively.

The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden also reported the highest proportions of households with a broadband connection.

In the first quarter of 2008, nearly one third of all individuals aged 16 to 74 in the EU had used the Internet for travel and accommodation services.

Around 30 percent had used Internet banking, interacted with public authorities or searched for health-related information, and a quarter had read online news or ordered goods or services. Around 15 percent had looked for jobs or sent applications by the Internet.

The member states with the highest proportions of individuals performing these Internet activities were the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg.