Mexico has 79.1 million Internet users

Nearly 7 out of 10 Mexicans above the age of six have access to the Internet , according to the 14th Edition of the Internet User Habit Study , conducted by the Internet Association.MX.

When measuring the Internet activity of 79.1 million users , web access showed a 12% growth in regard to 2016 . In addition, with the advent of Mobile internet , nearly every single user ( 99% ) is able to connect any day of the week, but more so on Saturdays and Sundays .

The average connection time of Internet users grew to 8 hours and 12 minutes , which places the world wide web as the Mexican people’s favorite communication medium . By contrast, the average Mexican citizen claimed to devote only three hours a day to watching television , and only one hour and forty-five minutes to listen to the radio.

One of the reasons behind the increase in Internet use is that 89% of users admit that they prefer to use their smart-phones to go online. The percentage surpasses the 49% of people who prefer to use their laptops and 34% of people that use desktop computers . The use of other devices, such as tablets and consoles , has decreased significantly.

Users spend most of their time on social networks (89%) , followed by e-mail (84%) , and instant message services (83%) . Nevertheless, the Association points to the use of other services, like online maps , which reached a historical high of 73% ; music streaming went from 54% to 68% , and movie streaming , from 55% to 65%.

Online purchases

also showed a considerable increase, from 37% to 54% . Internet transport hailing was gauged for the first time, reaching a 36% among users. The reasons that led users to prefer online transport hailing services were safety (72%) and convenience (49%) , due to shorter waiting times.

In more detail, the study revealed that the population of between 25 and 34 years of age are the heaviest Internet users , followed by the population of 12 to 17 years old (18%) , and 18 to 24 years old (17%) . In addition, 51% of users are female, and 49% are male , most of them connecting from central and southern Mexico.

dm