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Equity of Access
The following two charts present data on the level of access to the Internet by gender and age for the countries benchmarked. Both charts have been selected as indicators of the "Digital Divide" within and between countries. Although other indicators such as income and education are perhaps more reflective of the disparity in access levels across socio-economic groupings, standardised data of this type is not readily available for all countries. In terms of the available data on access by gender and age, an interesting picture emerges. In terms of gender, within countries there seems to be an similar level of access to the Internet, with the exception of Italy, the UK, Germany and France which have on average a 10 percentage point difference between male and female access levels. There is a much greater disparity between countries - where the top performing countries are significantly ahead of the poorest performing countries in terms of Internet access. In terms of age the disparity is at both levels - within countries and between countries. For gender and age, points have been allocated on the basis of the size of the disparity in access levels within a country.
% of persons 16 years and over with Internet access by gender
Within most of the countries benchmarked there is equity of access to the Internet between genders, although (on average) there is a ten-point variation in access levels between males and females in Germany, the UK, France and Italy.
The disparity in access between males and females was smallest in Australia and highest in Italy and Germany. In Australia, 73% of males and 72% of females had access to the Internet (1% difference in access), placing Australia 1st with 99 points. Taiwan followed with 98 points (65% of males and 63% of females with Internet access), the US 5, Hong Kong and Singapore with 97 points (64% and 61%), and New Zealand with 96 points (77% and 73%). Germany and Italy were the lowest ranked countries with 89 points, indicating a difference of 11% in access between genders.
|
Score | |
| Points | |
| Australia | 99 |
| Taiwan | 98 |
| US | 97 |
| Hong Kong | 97 |
| Singapore | 97 |
| New Zealand | 96 |
| Ireland | 96 |
| Sweden | 95 |
| Norway | 95 |
| South Korea | 95 |
| UK | 91 |
| France | 91 |
| Germany | 89 |
| Italy | 89 |
Data for the US was not available by gender for any site of access. Therefore, for ranking purposes the estimate for males and females aged 16 years and over with access at home was used.
% of persons 16 years and over with Internet access by age group
Across all countries, access to the Internet was skewed towards the age group '16-34,' with levels of access varying considerably between the two age groups '16-34,' and '35 years and over'. Within most countries the disparity between age exceeded 20% - Australia, New Zealand and Sweden recorded the lowest difference (12%, 18% and 20% respectively), France had the highest difference (37%). Between countries, the difference in access levels for 16-34 year olds was an estimated 32% (Sweden recording the highest access with 96%, Italy the lowest with 64%). Australia with 80% was ranked 8th. In terms of persons aged 35 years and over, the difference in access levels across countries was around 39% (Sweden recording the highest access with 76%, Italy the lowest with 37%). Australia (68%) was equal 3rd with New Zealand. Data for the US (presented below) was available only for different age groups and for actual use of the Internet, and thus not benchmarked for this indicator.
| Age group 18-24 years | Internet users 65% |
| Age group 25-49 years | Internet users 64% |
| Age group 50 years plus | Internet users 37% |
| Source: eMarketer, 2001, US Bureau of Census, 2001 |
|
Score | |
| Points | |
| Australia | 88 |
| New Zealand | 82 |
| Sweden | 80 |
| Hong Kong | 79 |
| UK | 77 |
| Taiwan | 77 |
| Norway | 75 |
| Singapore | 75 |
| Ireland | 74 |
| Germany | 74 |
| Italy | 73 |
| South Korea | 73 |
| France | 63 |