Almost two out of every three South Africans now connected to internet

Almost two out of every three South Africans (65%) who are 16 years or older are now connected to the internet while four out of every 10 South Africans access the internet daily (42%). This is slightly ahead of Nigeria (63%) and Kenya (53%).

This is according to new research released on Monday whoich was commissioned by internet giant Google and conducted by Kantar TNS.

The 2017 Consumer Barometer consists of research conducted in 63 countries to gauge their internet access and usage. South African data was collected via door-to-door interviews of which 60% were done in urban and 40% in rural areas.

About 25 million South Africans access the internet for personal use of which six out of 10 are below 35 years old. This is higher than the global average of 34%. Most users go online to access social media‚ use search engines and watch online videos.

South African internet users are split in the middle between men and women.

The research found six out of every 10 South Africans used smartphones compared to 47% in 2014. Just under one out of four (24%) South Africans used computers. Tablet usage was just more than one out of 10 (12%).

Just more than four out of 10 South Africans use only a smartphone‚ computer or tablet while 16% used two of these devices and 7% used all three.

Almost four out of five South Africans (79%) access the internet on their smartphone as often as on their computer.

About 2.5 million South Africans shop online which Google said is “only set to continue to grow”.

“In the future we can expect more connected devices‚ continued adoption of new technologies and the digital assistant becoming part of everyday life‚” Google said.