Twenty-one percent (32,1 million) of the population 10 years of age or over have accessed the Internet at least once somewhere – in their household or at an education establishment, at a public center of free or paid access, in other people’s households or at any other place – using a  microcomputer. The data are part of the supplement of the National Household Sample Survey – PNAD 2005, on Internet access and possession of mobile telephones for personal use. The survey, conducted by IBGE in partnership with the Internet Managing Committee in Brazil – CGI.br, showed that income, level of education and age significantly affect Internet access. Among the 32,1 million users who accessed the Internet in 2005, most were men (16,2 million) and were between 30 and 39 years of age (5,8 million). A total of 13,9 million were students, 20 million formed the employed population and 4,2 million were worked on administrative functions.

According to the survey, the Internet users were, on average, 28 years of age, had 10,7 years of schooling and average monthly household income per capita of R$ 1,000,00 besides, half of the them  made use of the web in the household in which they lived, and 39.7% in their job. Dial up Internet access was more widespread than the broadband type.

The proportion Internet users/ inhabitants in the Federal District is twice as  the figure in Brazil

Approximately 32,1 million persons, which made up 21% of the population 10 years of age or over in the country, had accessed the Internet at least once somewhere (in their household or at an education establishment, at a public center of free or paid access, in other people’s households or at any other place), using a microcomputer. The percentage of Internet users in the male population was 22.0%, a little above the indicator relative to the female group (20.1%). The percentages of persons accessing the web in the North Region (12.0%) and Northeast Region (11.9%) were lower than those observed in the Southeast (26.3%), South (25.6%) and Central West (23.4%) Regions.

The highest percentage of Internet users was found in the Federal District (41.1%), and this result was extremely above the following ones: São Paulo (29.9%) and Santa Catarina (29.4%). On the other hand, the lowest indicators were those of Alagoas (7.6%) and Maranhão (7.7%) – three times as the national average. In the metropolitan areas, the difference between the highest and the lowest figure was smaller. The lowest indicator was that of the Metropolitan Area of Belém (19.2%), the only one below the national average, and the highest one, in the Metropolitan Area of Curitiba (34.8%).

One-third of the youngsters aged 15-17 were Internet users

Internet users had a very different profile from those persons who did not use the Internet. The differences between these two groups became evident in the comparison between their age characteristics, level of education and income. The average age of the population 10 years of age or over who used the Internet was 28,1 years, being significantly lower than the average age of the population who did not use the Internet (37,5 years).

The survey showed that the use of Internet was more concentrated in younger age groups. In the group aged 15-17, 33.9% of the persons accessed the web, and this result was higher than among other age groups. This percentage decreased with the increase of age, reaching 7,3 % in the group aged 50 or over. The proportion of persons who accessed the Internet in the group aged 10-14 (24.4%) was higher than among those above 30 year of age, in both the female and male samples.

76.2% of the persons aged 15 or over used to access the Internet

The level of education of Internet users was higher than that of persons who did not use the web. The average number of years of schooling of Internet users was 10,7 years, whereas the number of persons who did not use the web was 5,6 years. The highest the level of instruction, the highest the proportion of Internet users. Whereas 2.5% of the persons without instruction or with less than 4 years of schooling accessed the Internet, in the group aged 15 or over this percentage reached 76.2%.

The level of the average monthly household income per capita of persons who used the Internet was also higher than the equivalent type of income of persons who did not access the web. The income of persons who did not use the Internet was R$ 333,00, which accounted for one-third of the number of persons who accessed the web (R$ 1 000,00). The proportion of persons who accessed the Internet increased with the increase of the monthly household income per capita. In the group of persons without income up to those who had a monthly income of one-fourth of the minimum wage, 3.3% were Internet users. Among persons who received over 5 minimum wages this percentage increased to 69.5%.

35.9% of the students were Internet users

The percentage of Internet users among students (35.9%) was more than half of that in the group which was not in this category (16.0%). Only in the Federal District (57.5%) and in São Paulo (51.2%), over half of the students accessed the Internet. The difference between these two indicators was significant both in the male population (35.6% and 17.3%, respectively) and in the female population (36.1% and 14.7%, respectively).

The IBGE survey showed that the percentage of persons who accessed the web in the employed population (22.9%) surpassed the percentage of persons who were unemployed (18.5%). It was also shown that the proportion of persons who used the Internet among employed women (24.7%) was significantly higher than among unemployed women (16.2%). Among men, the indicator relative to the unemployed group (22.7%) was higher than the one relative to the employed group (21.6%), although both figures were not  very different.    

Among those working with science or the arts, 72.8% accessed the Internet

The percentage of persons who used the Internet in the group formed by the arts and sciences professionals reached 72.8%, that is, the highest level of all groups. This first place was followed by workers in administrative functions (59.3%) and directors in general (58.0%) and, afterwards, by members of armed and auxiliary forces (52.9%) and technicians with a high-school diploma (51.9%). The other groups presented percentages below 22%, and the group of agricultural workers was the smallest one. (1.7%).

In the groups of activity which concentrated a big number of workers with low level of education, the proportions of persons who accessed the Internet were extremely low. It was 1.8% in agriculture, 4.0% in domestic services and 9.1% in the construction sector. On the other hand, in the groups in which a significant part of the workers performed tasks which required a higher level of education or the use of Internet itself, the percentages were higher. This indicator reached 47.3% in the group in public administration, 47.5% in education, health and social services and 57.9% in the group of other activities (financial mediation, insurance, private social security, computer-related activities, research and development, etc).

Among military and civil servants, 47.7% were Internet users

The proportion of Internet users was also different considering the positions in the occupation and the categories of employment in which people participated in the job market. The group formed by military and civil servants was the one which had the highest percentage of persons accessing the Internet (47.7%). It was followed by employers (40.6%) and, later on, by workers with a formal contract (32.6%). On the other hand, 1.8% of the in production or construction for their own consumption used the Internet.

This indicator was 17.5% for the group of persons without a formal contract, 12.1% for the group of own-account workers and 9.1% for the group of persons who did not receive any compensation. It can be noticed that the level of education in these categories was clearly reflected in this indicator. The category of military and civil servants had the highest level of education, being followed by employers and, then, by persons with a formal employment contract. The group of persons producing for their own consumption or working in construction for their own use had the lowest level of education among all the groups analyzed.   

Half of the Internet users had access to the web in their own household

The survey also investigated the place for Internet access and the results showed that 52.4% of the Internet users made use of more than one of them in the period of reference in the last three months of 2005. Considering the overall number of persons who used the Internet, half (16,1 million) accessed it from home, and 39.7% from work. The use of Internet in public centers with free access had the lowest percentage (10.0%), representing less than half of the use in public centers with paid access (21.9%). Access from education establishments reached 25.7%.

By comparing the results by sex, it was observed that, in the male population which accessed the Internet, the proportion of users accessing it from work (43.5%) and from a public center with paid access (24.1%) were significantly higher than those of the female group (35.8% and 19.6%, respectively). On the other hand, the percentage of women using the Internet from an education establishment surpassed the percentage of men in the same situation (23.6%).

The numbers of persons who used the Internet were very different in terms of their objective when accessing the web. In the population aged 10 or over, the highest proportions were those of persons accessing the web  aiming at finding information related to education and learning (71.7%) and communication with other people (68.6%). The lowest figures were related to use of the web to purchase or order goods and services (13.7%).

Internet users were also very different in terms of other characteristics (such as age, level of education, income, etc) taken into consideration to define the profile of those accessing the web. The highest figure for average age was that of persons who used the Internet in order to perform bank and financial transactions (35,8 years). This group was followed by those who used the web to interact with public authorities of government organizations (35,1 years) or purchase or order goods and services (34,2 years). These three average ages were significantly different from those of people who used the Internet for other purposes. The lowest average age was that of persons using the web for leisure (24,8 yeas). In all the different purposes, the average ages of women were a little lower than the ages of men.

Among the students who used the Internet, the proportion of those who used it for education and learning was the highest (90.2%), being followed by the proportion of those who used it for communication with other people (69.7%) and leisure activities (65.5%). The percentage of students who accessed the Internet to read newspapers and magazines reached 40.7% and the percentage related to other purposes of access were below 20%.

 Among the Internet users who were not students, the highest percentage was that of persons who accessed the web for communication with other people (67.8%), for education and learning (57.5%), for reading of newspapers and magazines (51.7%) and leisure activities (45.7%).

Not having a microcomputer was the main reason for not using the web

The impossibility of access to a microcomputer was the main reason presented by persons who did not use the Internet (37.2%). Among students, 50.6% did not access the web for this reason. The group of persons who did not use the web for lack of necessity or will made up 20.9%, and the ones who did not know how to use the web, 20.5%. Among the three main reasons for non-use mentioned above, the highest percentages were those of the Federal District (where 51.6% claimed not to have access to microcomputers); Santa Catarina (28.7%, for lack of knowledge or will), and in Amazonas (where 41.3% did not know how to use a computer). The proportion of persons who did not use the Internet due to the high cost of microcomputers reached 9.1%.

The reasons which caused persons not to access the Internet varied according to their monthly household income per capita. Persons who did not access the web because the microcomputer existing in the household was not connected to the Internet had an average income of R$ 559. Those who did not want to access it or did not consider it necessary had a monthly income of R$ 481, and the ones who used a computer somewhere but it was not connected to the Internet had income of R$ 411. The lowest incomes were those of the persons who did not use the Internet because they did not have access to a microcomputer (R$ 277) and due to the high cost of a microcomputer (R$ 261,00).

Over one-third of the Internet users accessed the web at least once a day

PNAD Internet also showed that most of the Internet users accessed the web at least once a week, but not every day (47.3%); over one-third (36.3%) at least once a day; 11.7% at least once a month, but not every week. The percentages of Internet users who used it at least once a day were higher in the Central West (39.6%), Southeast (38.6%) and South (37.7%); they were lower in the North (26.2%) and Northeast (27.6%). The Federative Units which had the lowest percentages of persons accessing the web were Piauí (16.7%), Amapá (17.4%) and Roraima (18.8%). On the other hand, the highlight among the result of the remaining Federative Units was that of the Federal District (47.8%).

Men accessed the Internet more frequently than women. In the male group, 38.8% used the web at least once a day, whereas in the female one this percentage was 33.7%. This occurred in all the Major Regions. The survey also showed that youngsters accessed the web with less intensity than the older ones. In the group of Internet users aged 10-17, 24.1% used the web at least once a day, whereas in the group aged 40 or over, this percentage increased to 45.3%.

Dial up access was more common than broadband

In the population aged 10 or over who used the Internet in their household, in the period of reference in the last three months, 52.1% only had dial up access, 41.2% only broadband, and 6.7% had both. The Central West Region was the only one in which the percentage of persons who had only dial up access (38.7%) was lower than the number of persons who had only broadband (57.1%). The Northeast region had the closest results (47.1% for dial up access and 46.2% for broadband).

It was observed that the percentage of persons who had only broadband Internet access increased with the increase of the monthly household income. In the group or persons without  income and with monthly household income per capita of up to 1 minimum wage, 20.0% used only broadband, and, in the group making over 5 minimum wages, this proportion reached 59.8%. The survey showed that the users who had broadband Internet accessed the web more times than those who had dial up access.

Highest and lowest percentages of persons owning mobile phones are those in the federal District and in Maranhão, respectively

The possession of mobile telephones for personal use was more spread among the population than Internet access. In the group of persons 10 years of age or over, 36.7% (56 million) had a mobile telephone for personal use. The percentages of persons who had a mobile telephone for personal use were highest in the South Region (47.6%) and Central West (47.5%). These were followed by the Southeast (41.0%). The results were lower in the North (26.8%) and Northwest Regions (23.8%). In the Federative Units, the Federal District held the highest percentage of persons who had a mobile telephone for personal use (66.3%), followed by Rio Grande do Sul (54.7%). On the other hand, the lowest percentages of this indicator were those of Maranhão (14.2%) and Piauí (16.8%). In the metropolitan areas, the difference between the extreme values was not so significant. The lowest percentages were those in the metropolitan areas of Fortaleza (40.0%) and Belém (40.7%), and the biggest one, different from the others, was that in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre (63.3%). The percentage of men who had a mobile telephone (38.2%) was higher than the percentage of women (35.4%); almost half (49.4%) of the persons in the group aged 25-29 had this type of means of communication. This percentage was 19.3% in the group aged 10-14, and 16.9% in the group aged 60 or over. This behavior was observed in all the Major Regions, except in the South, in which the maximum of this indicator occurred in the group aged 20-24.

The survey showed that years of schooling and household income were factors which influenced the possession of a mobile telephone. Persons who had a mobile telephone for personal use had, on average 9,2 years of schooling, whereas those who did not have a phone had 5,2 years. Among the persons without instruction or with only one year of schooling, only 8.5% had a mobile telephone, whereas among persons with 15 or more years of schooling, this percentage reached 82.9%.

The average monthly household income per capita of persons who had a mobile telephone for personal use reached R$ 772, whereas the income of those who did not have this type of telephone was R$ 299. In the group of persons who had no income up to one-fourth of the minimum wage of the monthly household income per capita, the percentage of persons who had a mobile telephone for personal use was 10.4%. Among those who received over 5 minimum wages, it reached 82.1%.

In the groups of students and non-students, the percentages of those who had a mobile telephone for personal use were at the same level (36.3% and 36.9%, respectively). Mobile telephones for personal use were much more common among the employed population than among the unemployed population. This fact was observed I both sexes and in all the major Regions. In Brazil, the persons who had this kind of telephone made up 44% of the employed population and 26.6% of the non-employed population.

In the employed population, the group of agricultural workers was the one with the lowest proportion of persons who had mobile telephones for personal use (12.4%), and the second lowest one was the group of service workers (36.7%). The highest percentage of employed persons who had this kind of telephone were those of the groups: directors in general (79.1%), science and arts professionals (78.4%) and members of the armed and auxiliary forces (76.4%). At a second level were the percentage of workers in administrative functions (69.8%) and technicians who had a high school diploma (69.2%).