ISTANBUL 

Almost nine out of 10 households have internet access in 2019, a Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) survey showed on Tuesday.

Internet access of households in the country rose 4.5 percentage points to 88.3% in 2019, versus the last year, according to the Information and Communication Technology Usage Survey.

While some 87.9% of households had broadband Internet connection, 86.9% of households also used mobile broadband connection in 2019.

Internet usage of individuals aged 16-74 was 75.3% in 2019. This proportion was 72.9% in 2018, according to the survey.

“While the proportion of male aged 16-74 using Internet were 81.8%, this proportion was 68.9% for female,” it said.

"During the twelve months (April 2018-March 2019), 51.2% of internet users among the individuals aged 16-74 interacted with public authorities over the Internet for private purposes," TurkStat said.

This proportion was 45.6% in the previous period, it added.

In the April 2018-March 2019 period, 34.1% of internet users used online services to buy goods or services, up from 29.3% in the previous period.

“The proportion of shopping over the Internet was 38.3% for males and 29.9% for females,” the statistical body said.

TurkStat will release next data on this subject in August 2020.