News
Internet penetration in the UAE increasing
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Internet penetration in the UAE is on the rise as web growth has reached 67 per cent with 55 per cent of the population using it on a daily basis.
This was disclosed in a recent survey conducted by the Middle East's biggest consumer research company, 6th Dimension TNS.
The firm reported internet penetration in the country is now at 67 per cent.
Jon Briggs, regional director for Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, explained: "We are not far from the United States in this regard. There is not a massive gap between where we are and where we need to be."
The study, consisting of 2,000 participants randomly sampled by mobile phone numbers, produced results that suggest that UAE penetration is progressing quickly with only 33 per cent of the population not personally using the internet.
In an interview with Emirates Business, Briggs said: "We really need to synchronise between where we are now and where we actually need to be in terms of usage of the internet, but also, what we are doing online."
As per the result in the recent survey, while females constitute a minority in the general population calculated at 28 per cent, they are nevertheless 29 per cent of the internet population.
Men, although the more dominant gender in population statistics at 72 per cent, were found to be 71 per cent of the internet population.
The report also looked into age profiles regarding the internet and found that the 21 to 30 age group was the most dominant.
As per the syndicated study, the internet is primarily used by the youth with 36 per cent of the users ranging in age from 21 to 30 years. Despite being only 32 per cent of the population, the 21 to 30 year olds hold the fort as chief internet users, compared to the 31 to 40 year olds. This age bracket, despite being 34 per cent of the general population, was calculated to be 35 per cent of the internet population.
As common in most countries, the 40 plus age group shows a smaller percentage of internet penetration.
Despite being 26 per cent of the general population, they were calculated to be only 19 per cent of the internet population.
Researching the nationalities of the users, not surprisingly the survey reported 82 per cent of the internet population to be expatriates.
The expatriates, although dominating internet population, were a little behind in the ratio of general population to internet population.
The UAE nationals count for only 17 per cent of the general population and expatriates for 83 per cent, nevertheless, nationals are calculated to be 18 per cent of the internet population.
The results in this report demonstrate that the internet is growing to become a significant method of communication in the country, and yet it seems there is still substantial room for further development.
When considering where the internet is used in the region, schools and colleges were five per cent and cyber cafés were three per cent. These figures seem to be substantially low especially when considering the possibilities the internet holds for education and research.
The dominant location to use the internet seemed to be at home with 55 per cent using it at home and 44 per cent using it in the office.
The study also found that whilst the internet was heavily used for sending and receiving e-mails, searching for information and chatting, it had far to go with regards to online shopping.
As per the survey, 83 per cent people use the web for e-mails, 76 per cent for searching for information, 43 per cent for chatting, 39 per cent for doing business, and only 29 per cent had used the internet for online purchase of airline tickets – often found to be cheaper online.
The internet is changing the dynamics of how we structure our business, culture and society. As internet penetration in the UAE grows we can predict further growth in online shopping, an area the country has yet to truly venture into.
Online shopping yet to catch on
More than 875 million consumers have shopped online globally, according to Nielsen Global Online Survey, but it seems people in the UAE are still resisting becoming online shopaholics.
In a recent survey 6th Dimension TNS reported that 61 per cent of the internet users in the UAE have never bought online whilst Nielsen results have reported that 85 per cent of the world's population has used the internet to make a purchase.
As per the international online survey, South Korea leads the group of online shopping enthusiasts with 99 per cent of the population calculated to have shopped online.
The United Kingdom, Germany and Japan all follow close behind with 97 per cent calculated to have shopped online, whilst the United States is positioned close behind, estimated to be 94 per cent.
When the results are compared it seems the UAE is trailing behind in most areas of online shopping except airline ticket purchases. Nielsen reported that more than 70 per cent of Indians and more than 60 per cent of Irish and UAE internet users said they bought airline tickets/reservations on the internet in the last three months, making travel the fourth most popular shopping category on the web.
This was disclosed in a recent survey conducted by the Middle East's biggest consumer research company, 6th Dimension TNS.
The firm reported internet penetration in the country is now at 67 per cent.
Jon Briggs, regional director for Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, explained: "We are not far from the United States in this regard. There is not a massive gap between where we are and where we need to be."
The study, consisting of 2,000 participants randomly sampled by mobile phone numbers, produced results that suggest that UAE penetration is progressing quickly with only 33 per cent of the population not personally using the internet.
In an interview with Emirates Business, Briggs said: "We really need to synchronise between where we are now and where we actually need to be in terms of usage of the internet, but also, what we are doing online."
As per the result in the recent survey, while females constitute a minority in the general population calculated at 28 per cent, they are nevertheless 29 per cent of the internet population.
Men, although the more dominant gender in population statistics at 72 per cent, were found to be 71 per cent of the internet population.
The report also looked into age profiles regarding the internet and found that the 21 to 30 age group was the most dominant.
As per the syndicated study, the internet is primarily used by the youth with 36 per cent of the users ranging in age from 21 to 30 years. Despite being only 32 per cent of the population, the 21 to 30 year olds hold the fort as chief internet users, compared to the 31 to 40 year olds. This age bracket, despite being 34 per cent of the general population, was calculated to be 35 per cent of the internet population.
As common in most countries, the 40 plus age group shows a smaller percentage of internet penetration.
Despite being 26 per cent of the general population, they were calculated to be only 19 per cent of the internet population.
Researching the nationalities of the users, not surprisingly the survey reported 82 per cent of the internet population to be expatriates.
The expatriates, although dominating internet population, were a little behind in the ratio of general population to internet population.
The UAE nationals count for only 17 per cent of the general population and expatriates for 83 per cent, nevertheless, nationals are calculated to be 18 per cent of the internet population.
The results in this report demonstrate that the internet is growing to become a significant method of communication in the country, and yet it seems there is still substantial room for further development.
When considering where the internet is used in the region, schools and colleges were five per cent and cyber cafés were three per cent. These figures seem to be substantially low especially when considering the possibilities the internet holds for education and research.
The dominant location to use the internet seemed to be at home with 55 per cent using it at home and 44 per cent using it in the office.
The study also found that whilst the internet was heavily used for sending and receiving e-mails, searching for information and chatting, it had far to go with regards to online shopping.
As per the survey, 83 per cent people use the web for e-mails, 76 per cent for searching for information, 43 per cent for chatting, 39 per cent for doing business, and only 29 per cent had used the internet for online purchase of airline tickets – often found to be cheaper online.
The internet is changing the dynamics of how we structure our business, culture and society. As internet penetration in the UAE grows we can predict further growth in online shopping, an area the country has yet to truly venture into.
Online shopping yet to catch on
More than 875 million consumers have shopped online globally, according to Nielsen Global Online Survey, but it seems people in the UAE are still resisting becoming online shopaholics.
In a recent survey 6th Dimension TNS reported that 61 per cent of the internet users in the UAE have never bought online whilst Nielsen results have reported that 85 per cent of the world's population has used the internet to make a purchase.
As per the international online survey, South Korea leads the group of online shopping enthusiasts with 99 per cent of the population calculated to have shopped online.
The United Kingdom, Germany and Japan all follow close behind with 97 per cent calculated to have shopped online, whilst the United States is positioned close behind, estimated to be 94 per cent.
When the results are compared it seems the UAE is trailing behind in most areas of online shopping except airline ticket purchases. Nielsen reported that more than 70 per cent of Indians and more than 60 per cent of Irish and UAE internet users said they bought airline tickets/reservations on the internet in the last three months, making travel the fourth most popular shopping category on the web.