In three years, the percentage of persons aged 10 years and over who accessed the Internet at least once from a computer increased 75.3%, having changed from 20.9% to 34.8% of persons in this age group, or 56 million users in 2008. In the same period, the proportion of persons who had a cell phone for personal use changed from 36.6% to 53.8% of the population aged 10 years and over, but, for 44.7% of these persons (or about 38.6 million Brazilians), the cell phone was the only one available for personal use.

These figures are shown in the Supplement to the National Household Sample Survey (Pnad) 2008 about Acces to Internet and Possession of Cell Phone for Personal Use. 

Younger persons access have more frequent access to the world computer web, as well as those who have a higher level of schooling – although between 2005 and 2008, access had increased more among persons with fewer years of schooling. Regional differences in the use of Internet remain, and the percentage of users was lower in the North (27.5%) and Northeast (25.1%) and higher in the Southeast (40.3%), Central West (39.4%) and South (38.7%). In 2008, the household remained as the place from which the Internet was most accessed; paid access centers – also called lan houses - came in second place and surpassed the workplace in this position (the second main place for access in 2005). There was also change in the main reason for using the Internet: 83.2% accessed the web in  2008 mainly in order to communicate with other people – in 2005, the main reason was education or learning, which fell to third place in 2008. In these three years, the occurrence of broadband Internet access doubled, but, in 2008, 32.8% of those who had not accessed the web still said they did not want to or did not find it necessary. 

Concerning possession of cell phone, between 2005 and 2008 there was reduction of the percent difference between men and women who had the appliance. Persons who had a cell phone had more years of schooling (9.2) than those who did not have a cell phone (5.2), and the percentage of persons who had a cell phone increased with the household income per capita. 

The main highlights of Pnad Supplement 2008 are presented below. 

In 2008, 56 million persons aged 10 years and over accessed the Internet at least once¹, from a personal computer, a figure which represented 34.8% of this population and had significant increase in the last three years – in 2005, the percentage was 20.9%. The increase of Internet access occurred among men (from 21.9% in 2005 to 35.8% in 2008) and women (from 20.1% to 33.9%). 

The Southeast (40.3%), Central West (39.4%) and South (38.7%) were the Major Regions with the highest percentage of users, and the North (27.5%) and Northeast (25.1%), with the lowest. Among the Federation Units, the Federal District (56.1%), São Paulo (43.9%) and Rio de Janeiro (40.9%) had the highest percentages of persons accessing the Internet, whereas Alagoas (17.8%), Piauí (20.2%) and Maranhão (20.2%) had the lowest percentages of access.

 

In 2008, Internet use was most widespread among youngsters. The age group of 15-17 had the highest percentage (62.9%) of persons accessing the web; besides, it had the highest increase in relation to 2005 (when it was 33.7%). From this age on, the percentage of users decreased with the increase of age, reaching 11.2% of persons aged 50 and over. This group represented, in 2008, 24.8% of the overall population, but corresponded to only 8.0% of the overall number of persons who had accessed the Internet. The proportion of persons who accessed the Internet in the age group of 10-14 (51.1%) was above the percentages of users in all age groups at 25 on, in all the Major Regions.  

 

Persons with more years of schooling use the Internet more often, but access had increased most among those with fewer years   

Internet users had more years of schooling (10 years on average) than those who did not use it (5.5 years of schooling), and the proportion of persons accessing it increased with the increase of schooling. Among persons with 15 or more years of schooling, the percentage of web users was 80.4%; among those with 11 to 14 years of schooling, 57.8%; with 8 to 10 years of schooling, 38.7%; with 4 to 7 years of schooling,  23.4%; and among persons without schooling or with less than four years, 7.2%.

 

All the groups presented increase of Internet access in relation to 2005, but it was most significant in the population with fewer years of schooling.

The proportion of persons with Internet access also increased with the increase of household income per capita. In the group receiving over 5 minimum wages, 75.6% used to access the Internet, whereas among those with no income up to those receiving ¼ of a minimum wage, the percentage was 13.0%. This behavior was observed in all the areas, but in the North and Northeast the difference among the proportion of users of the lower and higher classes of income was even higher.   

Between 2005 and 2008, the proportion of students who used the Internet in the period of reference increased from 35.7% to 60.7%. Among non-students there was also increase, but to a lower extent (from 15.9% to 26.6%), which has to do with the age group of both types of population. Employed persons also had more access (36.0%) than unemployed ones (33.2%), but the difference between both groups was smaller, showing that Internet access was most related to the status as students than with one’s position in the occupation.

 

Lan houses in second position among  places for Internet access

 

Out of the 56 million persons who accessed the Internet, 47.5% did it from more than one place, being the most common one the person’s own house (57.1% of persons). The second most common place for accessing the Internet was a paid-access center or lan house (35.2%), which, in 2005, was in third place, after the workplace (31.0% in 2008).

 

Considering Major Regions, there were also differences. In the North and Northeast, the paid-access center was the place from which persons most often accessed the Internet (56.3% and 52.9%, respectively). In the North, 34.1% accessed it from the household where they lived and in the Northeast, 40.0%.

 

Whereas men (33.6%) had a slightly higher level of access from the workplace than women (28.%), the latter used to have more frequent access from teaching establishments (18.7% versus 16.3% of men) –  a fact which was observed in all Major Regions.

 

Among persons who had access from only one place (52.5% of the total), 45.9% did it from the household where they lived; 29.5% from a paid-access center; 12.1% from the workplace; 4.8% from the teaching establishment; 0.8% from a free-access center and 6.9% from other places.

 

Areas for Internet use were associated to the user’s age group. Younger ones, aged 10 to 17 accessed the Internet especially from paid-access centers (53.3%) and from the household where they lived (43.1%), whereas persons aged 40 and over, did it from the household where they lived (78.6%) or from their workplace (50.9%). This fact can also be observed considering the average age of persons who accessed the Internet (28.1 years of age, in 2005 and 27.6, in 2008); by place of access: household (30.6 years) and workplace (34.6 years), the average age was higher than in other places.   

 

The average monthly income per capita of persons who used the in the household where they lived (R$ 1,336) and in the workplace (R$ 1,523) was higher than that of persons using the web in other places. Lowest incomes were those of users of paid-access centers (R$ 536) and free-access centers (R$ 825). Compared to 2005, there was decrease of the average monthly income per capita of persons who accessed the Internet from any location, except from the workplace (increase of 0.4%).

 

Communicating with other persons is the main reasons for using the Internet

 

Communication with other persons was the main reason presented for one to use the Internet (by 83.2% of users) in 2008, overcoming education and learning (65.9%), which was the main reason of access in 2005 (71.7% that year). Access to leisure activities also gained importance in the last few years: in 2005, it was the third most often mentioned reason (54.3% of those who accessed it) and, three years later, it moved to second position, having been mentioned by 68.6% of users.

 

The reading of newspapers and magazines was also a very often mentioned reason in 2008 (by 48.6% of the persons who accessed the web). This order of reasons was observed in all Major Regions, and in all Federation Units communication with other persons was the most commonly mentioned reason.

 

Communication with other persons was the reason most often presented by women (84.0%) and men (82.3%), but, for them, the second reason was leisure (72.8%), whereas for them this reason was in third place (64.6%), and in second position was education and learning (69.4%). Older persons used the Internet for banking or financial services (average age of 36.4 years) and interacting with public authorities or governmental organizations (36.0 years). The lowest age was that of persons who used the web for leisure (24.9 years of age). Persons who used the Internet for banking or financial services presented the highest level of schooling (average of 12.8 years), and those who did it for leisure activities, the lowest (9.8 years). The  highest figures for average household income per capita were those of persons who accessed the web for banking or financial services (R$ 1,989) and for buying or ordering goods or services (R$ 1,855). The lowest incomes were those of persons who used the Internet for leisure (R$ 958) and for communicating with others (R$ 1,022).

 

Broadband access doubles between 2005 and 2008

 

Among persons who accessed the Internet from their household in 2008, 80.3% did it only by broadband; 18.0% only by dial-up access and 1.7% both ways. In relation to 2005, the increase of broadband access was very significant: that year the percentage had been 41.2%.

 

By Major Region, broadband access was also spread and started to be the main form of access, especially in the Central West, where 93.4% of the persons used it – versus 57.1% in 2005. On the other hand, the North Region had the lowest proportion of persons accessing the Internet by broadband (70.4% versus  40.5% in 2005).

 

104.7 million persons did not use the Internet, 32.8% of them due to lack of necessity or interest

 

According to Pnad 2008, 104.7 million persons aged 10 and over did not use the Internet in the three months preceding the interview, that is, 65.2% of the total. The reasons presented for not using it were consolidated into three: not finding it necessary or not wanting to (32.8%); not knowing how to use it (31.6%) and not having access to a computer (30.0%). It is worth mentioning that in the North and Northeast, the most often mentioned reason was not knowing how to use the Internet (38.7% and 40.1% respectively).

 

The proportion of persons who declared not to access the Internet because they did not have access to a computer (30.0%) was reduced in relation to the survey in 2005 (37.2%), as well as the persons who mentioned the high cost of a computer (9.1% in 2005 and 1.7% in 2008). The percentage of persons who did not use the Internet because they did not find it necessary or did not want to had the biggest increase  (from 20.9%, in 2005 to 32.8%, in 2008). There was also increase of the number of persons whose declared motivation was the fact of not knowing how to use the Internet (from 20.6%, in 2005 to 31.6%, in 2008).

 

Alagoas (48.3%), Rondônia (43.5%) and Acre (47.5%) had the highest percentages of persons who did not use the Internet because they did not have access to a computer. In Rio de Janeiro the main reason was not finding it necessary or not wanting to (45.1%).

 

Persons who did not access the Internet because they did not find it necessary or did not want to and those who did not know how to use the Internet had higher average ages (44.1 and 45.2 years, respectively) than those who presented other motivations. Students who did not use the web presented the fact of not having access to a computer as the main reason (46.9%).

 

Over half of Brazilians (53.8%) have a cell phone

 

In 2008, over half (53.8%) of the population aged 10 years and over , or about 86 million persons, had a cell phone for personal use – a percentage which was 36.6% in 2005, and represented 56 million persons.

 

From 2005 to 2008, whereas the population aged 10 years and over increased 5.4%, the number of persons who had a cell phone increased 54.9%.

 

In the Central West Region, a place which had the highest percentage of persons with a cell phone (64.3%), the highlight was the Federal District, where this percentage reached 75.6%. North (45.4%) and Northeast (41.2%) kept the lowest percentages; however, the former was the Major Region which had biggest increase of participation (27. 0% in 2005).

 

In the North, Acre had the highest percentage (50.7%), and Pará, the lowest (43.7%). Roraima was the state where the percentage of persons who had a cell phone increased most from 2005 to 2008 (20.9 percentage points), whereas in there was the least increase (13.3 pp). In almost all the Northeastern states, the possession of a cell phone had not reached 50% of the population in 2008, except in Sergipe (56.4%), which had, compared to the figure in 2005, the biggest increase of the country in this proportion (23.0 percentage points).

 

In the South Region (62.8% had a cell phone); Rio Grande Sul had the highest percentage of persons with a cell phone (67.7%), and Paraná (58.8%) had the biggest increase in relation to the result in 2005 (18.0 percentage points). In the Southeast Region (where 58.6% had a cell phone), Rio de Janeiro presented the highest percentage (61.7%) of persons with a cell phone; Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo had the biggest increases in the period analyzed (19.4 percentage points each).

 

In Piauí and in Maranhão the percentages reached in 2008 were twice as high as those in 2005. Also close to double were the percentages of Bahia, Alagoas, Sergipe and Roraima.

 

The percentage of men (54.0%) who had a cell phone remained bigger than that of women (53.6%), although the difference fell from 2.8 percentage points in 2005 to 0.4 percentage points in 2008. The number of women who had a cell phone was 27.8 million in 2005, and the number of men, 28 million. The figure was bigger among men only in the South (64.6% of men versus 61.0% of women) and Southeast  (59.8% and 57.4% respectively).

 

In 2008, in the population under 30 years of age, the percentage of women who had a cell phone (28.8%) was higher than that of men (25.7%). This behavior was reversed after persons turned 30, which, in 2005, occurred at 25 years of age.

 

Possession of cell phones is related to schooling and income

 

The possession of a cell phone was directly related to the level of schooling and to the income received. Persons who had a cell phone had more years of schooling (9.2) than those who did not have one (5.2), and the percentage of persons with a cell phone increased with the increase of income. In 2008, average household income per capita among persons who did not have a cell phone corresponded to 44.9% of the income of those who had one. In 2005, this proportion was 38.7%.

 

For 38.6 million persons, a cell phone is the only telephone for personal use

 

Among persons who had a cell phone for personal use, 44.7% (38.6 million) did not have a conventional telephone line in the household, a decreasing percentage according to the increase of monthly household income per capita.

 

Considering the overall number of employed persons, the percentage of those who had a cell phone for personal use in 2008 (63.6%) was higher than that of unemployed persons (40.6%). In 2005, less than half of the persons employed (44.3%) had a cell phone for personal use and, among the unemployed ones, this percentage was 26.5%.

 

Jobs which required a higher level of schooling presented higher percentages of persons with a cell phone: members of the armed forces and their auxiliaries (90.7%), directing positions in general (89.7%) and professionals dealing with sciences and the arts (89.1%).

  

In 2008, the cell phone remained as an item of low penetration among agricultural workers (24.2%), whereas the highest percentage occurred in the group “other activities”² (86.1%).

¹ In the period of reference of three months prior to the conduction of the survey (Sep08).

² Financial mediation, insurance and social security, real estate activities, rent of vehicles and equipment, computer-related activities, research and development, services rendered to enterprises, international organizations, etc.