More than half the households in many OECD countries now have a home computer, but there is still a large gap between countries such as the Netherlands at 69% or Denmark (68%) and France (27%) or Turkey (12% of urban households) at the other end of the scale. And while many households use their computers to access the Internet, this is by no means always the case.

In Germany, only 34% of households with a computer have Internet access while in Sweden less than 50% of households have Internet access but 68% of individuals are using the Internet ¡V which means they are going online via their mobile phones, or at work. But in the United States there is little difference between the level of households with access and the number of individuals using the Internet, reflecting a tendency to spend time online at home.

Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard: Towards a Knowledge-based Economy, 2001 Edition, OECD, September 2001.

©OECD Observer No 228, September 2001