How did we use the Internet in 2022?

The Internet today is the primary medium of all communication. Of course, everyone uses it in their own way. But how are the general trends shaping up? What industries of the Internet are worth entering and where will there be more new customers?

You can learn all about how Poles used the Internet in 2022 from the article below. A big influence on this past year was the COVID-19 epidemic, which encouraged online solutions that did not require in-person meetings and travel. What other factors influence our online activity and what we look for there?

Internet use – age groups

The overall number of Poles using the Internet is growing steadily, and it is a fairly stable trend. According to the survey, currently 77 percent of Polish residents go online at least once a week. This represents an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the results of last year’s survey. Previously, the increase was 5 percentage points (between 2020 and 2021). Due to the age distribution of those using the network, this indicator will grow and should approach 100 percent. Although this process may take many more years.

The biggest differentiating feature of online presence is precisely age. Among young people, using the web is an obvious activity, without which it is impossible to function in society. In each older age group, the percentage of users decreases. Thus, the 18-34 age groups are 100 percent of affirmative answers, which means there are practically no people who do not use the Internet. Among respondents aged 35-44, the percentage is 96 percent. It only drops noticeably in the next age bracket, 45-54, to 86 percent. The next group is already a huge gap, with only 65 percent of those aged 55-64 using the Internet. In the 65-74 bracket, it’s only 41 percent, and after 75 it’s 22 percent.

Internet use – professional groups

As you can easily guess, a much higher percentage of people using the Internet is among working citizens. Two important factors are at work here. The first is the age of the working population, most of the inactive group are retirees, among whom there is a lower prevalence of online activities. Perhaps the use of the Internet is also enforced by employers or the recruitment process, where it is difficult to do without e-mail today. Thus, 94 percent of working people and 55 percent of inactive people use the Internet.

In groups such as executives, specialists in various industries, technicians and middle staff and administrative and clerical workers, the use of the Internet is 100 percent, and this is not a surprising result, since without it it would be virtually impossible to perform such professions. Among the self-employed and service workers, the percentage is only marginally lower at 97 and 96 percent, respectively.

At the other end of the scale are farmers. In this occupational group, only 71 percent of people say they use the web at least once a week.

Internet use – Internet users’ wealth and place of residence

Wealth status is a much smaller factor affecting the frequency of Internet use than age and occupation. Of course, the percentage is higher in the wealthier group, but the differences are not very large. Those who rated their financial situation as bad use the Internet at 62 percent, those with an average situation at 71 percent and those with a good situation at 83 percent.

A similar situation applies to where Internet users live. Among those living in rural areas, they are the least, there the percentage is 72 percent. In small towns up to 19,999 people it is slightly higher at 78 percent. In the next range, which is cities 20,000 – 99,999 is 76 percent. The highest rates are recorded by large cities of 100,000 – 499,999 and those with more than half a million residents, there the percentage of people using the Internet is 87 and 86 percent, respectively.

Internet usage – what devices?

What devices we use to browse the Internet hasn’t changed much in the past year. Most people use some form of wireless access with devices such as a smartphone, tablet or laptop. The percentage stands at 94 percent and only slightly decreases in the higher age groups.

The use of devices such as smartphones is fostering the fact that more and more people are declaring a constant online presence. That is, they don’t just turn it on when they want to buy something or check some information, but have various applications permanently turned on that send them notifications, alerts or news. This way of using the Internet is confirmed by 47 percent of Internet users. This percentage also strongly depends on people’s age and decreases as it increases.

Internet usage – what do we buy?

Online shopping is one of the most important activities people do online. Last year, 84 percent of Internet users made at least one purchase online. In the population as a whole, this means that 64 percent of Poles make purchases online. Similarly, 36 percent of people made at least one sale via the web, meaning that among Internet users such people were 46 percent.

The basic things we purchase this way have not changed much. Still on the shopping top are:

• clothing and footwear:
• cosmetics;
• electronic equipment;
• books, e-books, audiobooks;
• toys and children’s items;
• automotive articles;
• Tickets (train, plane, bus);
• sports equipment;
• drugs;
• food;
• programs, movies, games, music;
• Tickets (concerts, matches).

Only the category of online services and content available via the web saw a big increase. That is, all kinds of access to paid services with music, movies, newspaper subscriptions and similar things.

Internet usage – what else do we do online

Poles also use the web for many things other than shopping. Online bank access recorded strong growth at the start of the COVID-19 epidemic and is still high. Online banking is present in 79 percent of Internet users. Here, too, a strong dependence on age is observed, the younger the Internet users, the higher the percentage using online banking services. The situation is similar with arranging official matters via the Internet. Such a service is used by 44 percent of Internet users – especially the younger and more highly educated groups.

Having a profile on any of the social networks is declared by 72 percent of Internet users. These are mainly sites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, GoldenLine and LinkedIn. Among those with such accounts, 89 percent have used their account in the last month. The biggest differentiating factor here is age. The youngest group has almost 100 percent of accounts on various social networks and among those over 65 the level is only 35 percent.

Instant messaging programs (Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, Hangouts and the like) are still very popular, and 80 percent of people using the network last month said they use them. Here, in addition to age, the frequency of use of such programs is also influenced by gender – among men it is 76 percent and among women 83 percent.

The percentage of online games in the interests of Internet users is quite low. Only 16 percent of online users spent time playing games. For this, the gender division is very evident here – in the male group of Internet users 24 percent play, in the female group only 8 percent.

Participation in online masses has also been declining since the big boom at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Only 14 percent of Internet users confirm participating in such broadcasts. The percentage is strongly age-dependent and markedly higher among women.

A similar downward trend also applies to participation in all kinds of teleconferencing. Here, a large increase occurred at the beginning of the epidemic, but has clearly begun to decline, which can be linked to the easing of restrictions and a return to working on employers’ premises.

Posting photos and videos online has increased. Such activity is confirmed by 31 percent of Internet users. Gender is important for this activity, with 27 percent of men doing so and 35 percent of women doing so. Similar differences in behavior between men and women apply to keeping video blogs and traditional written blogs. Such forms of activity occupy 6 percent of female Internet users and only 2 percent of male Internet users.

Internet use in 2022 – summary

The year 2022 has not brought any colossal changes in the way Poles use the Internet. Trends from previous years continue. This is primarily an increase in online shopping, using online banking or doing official business. Internet users are also spending more and more time watching and reading content for which they pay, whether directly for the material or in the form of subscriptions. There is still a very wide variation in both the number of Internet users and their online behavior by age. Other factors such as place of residence, education, occupation, wealth level or gender also matter, but in most cases many times less.

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