The Netherlands is among the leading EU-28 countries with the most households with Internet access. In 2017, 98 percent of Dutch households had internet at home; the European average was 87 percent. The Netherlands is also among the top countries with fast broadband connections. This is according to a CBS analysis of Eurostat figures.
In 2017, 98 percent of Dutch households had Internet access at home. This puts the Netherlands among the best scoring European countries. In Europe, Luxembourg and Denmark (97 percent), Sweden (95 percent) and Finland (95 percent) are also among the leading countries with the most households with Internet access. Within the EU, an average of 87 percent of households had an Internet connection in 2017, an increase of 4 percentage points compared to 2015. Back then, Luxembourg topped the list with 97 percent, followed by the Netherlands with 96 percent.
The proportion of households with Internet is considerably smaller in many Southern and Eastern European countries. Yet these countries have been catching up in recent years.
Almost all Dutch households have a broadband connection at home.
Netherlands topped the European rankings with 98 percent of all households in 2017, followed by Luxembourg and Finland. In the EU-28, an average of 85 percent of households had a broadband Internet connection last year.
Netherlands and Sweden lead in mobile internet
In 2017, the Netherlands and Sweden scored the highest in Europe at 87 percent when it comes to internet use with mobile devices, away from home or work. On average in the EU, 65 percent of the population - aged 16 to 74 - used the Internet on mobile devices last year. The Netherlands has experienced rapid growth. In 2012, only 55 percent of the population were mobile Internet users.
In Sweden five years ago, 70 percent of people were already using the mobile Internet away from home or work.
Smartphones are especially popular
In 2017, 84 percent of Dutch and Swedish people used a smartphone outside the home or work. This put them ahead of the EU, where an average of 63 percent used a smartphone. In 2015, smartphone use was much lower in the Netherlands and Sweden, when 71 percent and 74 percent of residents used a smartphone, respectively.
Laptops, notebooks and tablets were used by 54 percent of Dutch people away from home or work in 2017. In Sweden, it was 7 percentage points lower.
Justification/explanation
To obtain information on how households and individuals use ICT and the Internet in the European Union, the European Statistical Offices have conducted the Household and Personal ICT Use Survey every year since 2005. All 28 countries use a harmonized questionnaire each year to compare results. The survey population consists of the population aged 16 to 74.
