More than half of the elderly used the Internet several times a day in Slovenia
In the first quarter of 2024, 91% (in 2023: 90%) of individuals aged 16 to 74 (hereinafter: residents) used the Internet. The share of Internet users was the highest in the Osrednjeslovenska (95%) and the Obalno-kraška (94%) statistical regions, and the lowest in the Savinjska statistical region (83%).
The same as last year, 87% of residents used the Internet every day or almost every day, and 85% used it several times a day. This was most frequently among younger individuals aged 16 to 24 (99%) and least frequently among the elderly aged 65 to 74 years (56%).
The Internet has never been used by 7% of residents. Eight out of ten (79%) non-users reported that they do not need the Internet, a third (33%) said they are not interested, and 29% lacked the skills to use it. About 3,690 individuals, or 3%, do not use the Internet due to high costs of equipment or access, such as purchasing a computer or subscription fees.
94% of households with at least one resident aged 16–74 had access to the Internet at home (in 2023: 94%): 95% in the Zahodna Slovenija cohesion region and 93% in Vzhodna Slovenija.
More than a tenth tried to delete or close their user account of free applications or services
Internet use for private purposes is moderately increasing. The largest share of residents sent or received emails (82%), 65% participated in social media such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or TikTok, 64% used online banking and 61% made phone calls or video calls via apps such as WhatsApp or Viber.
For carrying out activities on the Internet, free applications or services that require registration or the opening of a user account are usually used. This generates data that the provider uses or forwards to other companies for data processing, e.g. for targeted advertising.
Such a user account, e.g. for e-mail, on social media, various applications for listening to music or shopping, was opened at any time by 86% of residents. The share was the largest among young individuals and 35–44-year-olds (99%). 11% of residents tried to delete or close their user account in such a free application or service. 4% encountered problems when doing so, e.g. finding a way to delete the account, too much time spent, technical problems.
Twice as many elderly as in 2022 watched films or series via streaming services
The Internet is also essential for leisure activities. 65% (in 2022: 58%) of residents listened to music online, e.g. via online radio, YouTube or apps such as Deezer, Apple Music or Spotify, 15% also downloaded music from the Internet. 24% played online games or downloaded them. Listening or downloading podcasts increased to 20% (in 2022: 14%). Podcasts are most popular among 25–34-year-olds (35%).
61% (in 2022: 56%) watched video content on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or similar websites and 54% (in 2022: 47%) watched Internet streamed TV live or catch-up, e.g. NEO, TVin, EON, tv2go or RTV SLO; 64% among young and 35% among the elderly.
37% (in 2022: 29%) watched movies or TV series via commercial streaming services , e.g. Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Voyo or Max. The share was highest among young individuals (69%; 64% in 2022), followed by 25–34-year-olds (61%), which is 18 percentage points more than in 2022. The share also doubled among the elderly (65–74-year-olds) to 12%.
More than half of young people use generative artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly present in our everyday life, from digital assistants to recommendation systems or personalized ads. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Bing Chat, DALL-E generate texts, images, computer code or other content based on input data or a posed question, enabling interaction, idea generation or problem solving.
57% of residents answered that they are aware of or have heard of AI technologies; most among the young (87%) and least among the elderly (22%).
A fifth of residents (20%) used virtual assistants in the form of a mobile application or smart speaker, e.g. Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, Telekom NEO (in 2022: 14%).
21% used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini, DALL-E. More than half (55%) among young and 4% among the elderly.
Residents used generative AI in the following ways:
- 15% for private purposes
- 9% for work purposes
- 7% within formal education
According to the status, the usage of generative AI tools was 70% among pupils, students or students, 24% among employees and 4% among pensioners.
69% of residents has not yet used generative AI tools for the following reasons:
- 46% have no need to use it
- 13% do not know it exists
- 5% do not know how to use it
- 3% have security or privacy concerns
- 3% have other reasons
Source: Statistics Slovenia
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