The proportion of households with personal computers dropped by two percentage points this year to 74%, while 76% have access to the Internet, as against 77% in 2016.
Companies mostly use broadband Internet connections
Apart from being well-equipped with information and communications technologies (ICT), 71% of companies in Croatia have their own websites and as many as 96% of them have some form of broadband connection. 92%, or 6% more than last year, have a fixed-line broadband connection and 83% have a mobile broadband connection, or 3% more than last year.
The survey was carried out on a sample of 4,500 companies in Croatia.
It revealed that a growing number of companies use broadband Internet connections of 10Mbps, their number increasing by 8% to 63%.
However, only 45% of companies use social media and 31% use cloud services, while as few as 11% sell their goods and services online.
Broken down by activity, ICT is used by 100% of companies engaged in electricity and water supply, publishing, communications and business activities, 99% of companies engaged in commerce, 94% of construction and manufacturing companies and 93% of hotels, restaurants, services companies and transport companies.
Nearly all households have fixed line broadband Internet access
As regards the use of ICT by households, the survey was conducted on a sample of 5,493 persons aged 16-74. It showed that nearly all households have fixed-line broadband Internet access, while 57%, up from 50% last year, have mobile broadband Internet access.
Of 24% of households that do not have Internet access, 68% said they have no need for it. Although no major changes were noticed with regard to age, the Internet and ICT in general is still mostly used by younger people. DZS, however, noted that Internet usage is increasing among people aged up to 54.
The Internet is still mostly used to read newspapers and magazines, to get information about products and services and about health. It is used the least for job searches and for submitting official requests and forms to public services.