More than four fifths of Europeans used the internet in 2016, with 85% of European households having access to the internet from home and almost eight out of ten (79%) using it regularly (on average at least once a week) at home, at work or elsewhere.
At EU-Member State level, the largest shares of households with access to the internet in 2016 were registered in Luxembourg and the Netherlands (97% each).
Five other Member States presented shares of connected households above 90%:
- Denmark and Sweden (94 % each)
- United Kingdom (93 %)
- Germany and Finland (92% each)
At the other end of the ranking scale, the lowest proportions were registered in Bulgaria (64%) and Greece (69%) followed by Romania and Lithuania (72% each).
As at 31st March 2017, there were nearly 631 million internet users in Europe, with over 328 million registered Facebook users.
These figures show that there are great gains to be made from selling online in Europe, but with many languages, different cultures and tax rates, Europe can be a challenging market. Your European website is the best sales tool you can have, but it needs to be set up for international e-commerce. This means technically responsive for different currencies, VAT rates and shipping. But just as importantly, the content needs to be relevant to the local market, able to engage your prospects on their terms.
Join our webinar at 4pm on Wednesday 14th June to learn more about localised websites for the EU, differences and similarities between the EU member countries, and how to reach the right audience.
Using case studies, we will show how UK companies can use their online presence to grow sales, build brand awareness and support in-market partners.
Join the webinar to learn more, including:
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Website localisation, what it means and how you can implement
- The big five markets (Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain)
- The other markets (20+…)
- Languages: 24 official European Union languages
- Big business to business (B2B) – direct or via distributors
- >500 million netizens business to consumer (B2C)
- European digital platforms “plug and play” infrastructure
- Single European Payment Systems (SEPA)
- Ecommerce and mcommerce
- Building web sites – practical guidelines
- Marketing online – the do’s and don'ts
Don't worry if you can't attend the webinar at the time given above, register your details and we'll send you a recording of the webinar for you to view in your own time.
Internet usage stats from Eurostats and Internetworldstats.com