Net-Metrix-Base: The Internet increasingly permeates everyday life
The latest report from the Net-Metrix-Base Internet study shows that Internet use in Switzerland is not only growing steadily but is also becoming more intensive.
Almost 80 percent of the population use the Internet several times a week. Two-thirds of the Swiss even say they are online every day or almost every day, as Net-Metrix-Base publication 2011-1 shows. At universities, workplaces and at home, the Internet has become indispensable. Fifty-six percent of the population have access to the Internet at their place of work or education, compared with just under 42 percent ten years ago. The increase in Internet access at home is even more pronounced: While around one in two respondents said yes in 2001, the figure is now almost nine in ten.
This development underscores the general trend toward a media society, according to a statement from Net-Metrix: While so-called "offliners" are becoming a rarity (15 percent), onliners are spending more and more time on the Internet. In 1999, only 14 percent of respondents said they used the Internet daily or almost daily. In the meantime, this proportion has increased almost fivefold to 67 percent and is likely to rise further.
The typical "heavy user" is (still) between 20 and 30 years old, well educated and male. He lives in an urban region, belongs to the upper income bracket, and is in a management position professionally. In the medium term, however, the "heavy user" is likely to represent increasingly willing social groups: One reason for this is the increasing number of mobile devices and services available for visiting the World Wide Web.
The Net-Metrix-Base study provides general basic information on Internet users in Switzerland and Liechtenstein twice a year. With over 23,000 computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) per year, Internet usage habits are investigated for people aged 14 and over.
