In the 20 Net-Metrix years, the number of online users has more than doubled
The development of Internet use in Switzerland has been documented since 1999 as part of the NET-Metrix-Base study. Since then, the number of online users has more than doubled. Currently, nine out of ten people are online and more than 80 percent surf daily. This is according to the latest data from the NET-Metrix-Base 2020-1 study.
At the beginning of the new millennium, just under 40 percent of the Swiss population surfed the web. Today, more than 90 percent are regularly online. Currently, eight out of ten use the Internet daily or several times a day; in 1999, only 14 percent were heavy users. Among digital natives (14- to 29-year-olds), the Internet is used almost without exception - only 1 percent of this age group lives offline. 20 years ago, this proportion was much higher at 39 percent. Even though most offliners are still to be found among seniors aged 70 and over, they have discovered the Internet for themselves in recent years: today, 63 percent of this age group are online users, compared with just 2 percent in 1999.
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There are now around 6.3 million Internet users aged 14 and over in Switzerland. The proportion of offline users has fallen: 538,000 Swiss people (8 %) still do not use the Internet.
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Internet penetration is steadily increasing for both gender categories: Overall, 118 thousand more men than women still use the Internet in Switzerland.
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Internet penetration among 14- to 29-year-olds will soon reach 100 percent. Less than one-fifth of the over-50s still live offline.
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As before, the proportion of offliners is highest in the group with compulsory schooling: around one in five is not on the web.
Ubiquitous smartphone
The smartphone is now the most widely used device for surfing the Internet, with 5.4 million users, while in 2013 it was in third place behind the desktop and laptop, with 3.4 million users. The intensity of use has also increased: Eight out of ten Swiss online users surf on their smartphone every day, compared with five out of ten in 2013. WLAN is now standard: 42 percent surf with their cell phone primarily via this connection. 29 percent say they primarily use the mobile network (4G, etc.) and 29 percent surf via WLAN and the mobile network in roughly equal measure.
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Smartphone use is still growing steadily among Internet users: the number of smartphone users has increased by around 288 thousand people within a year.
Boom in online messaging services
The activities of obtaining information via search engines, e-mail and daily news are still the most popular. But the greatest increase has been in the number of users of online messaging and telephony services: Whereas 37 percent of respondents said they used these services in 2013, the figure is now 59 percent. Social media are also being used more frequently today: 66 percent regularly romp around on Facebook, Instagram and the like - in 2013, this figure was only 46 percent.
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Social networks are the most frequently used, with more than 3.7 million users aged 14 and over.
