Growing Ranks of Internet Users

According to data from a poll conducted by the GfK- USM Company among 1000 persons aged from 15 to 59, in February 2003, 3.1 million Ukrainians, or 6.4% of the country’s population, were actively using the Internet. 4.32 million persons had an opportunity to use the World Wide Web, 71% of whom turned to it at least once in four weeks and 52% more than once a week, reports Interfax Ukraine. Meanwhile, according to the information from Ukraine’s State Committee for Communications and Informatization, in 2002, the number of Internet users rose by 2.5 times to 2.5 million, 900,000 of whom are active users. Most of them (37%) have Internet access at work, 22% at home, and 21% in public places (Internet cafes or libraries). About 11% of users ordered goods or services through the Internet. The research also discovered that men use the Web more frequently than women, who account for only 6% of all users. Incidentally, in Ukraine it is mostly residents of cities with population over 500,000 who turn to the Internet. In the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine 8% population are Internet users, and in the northern ones only 2%. Our younger compatriots have broader access to the Web: the share of its users uniformly decreases from 15% in the 15- 19 age group to 3% among those aged from 50 to 59.