More computers than people in Sweden

Today you’ll find more computers than people in Swedish homes. The statistics speak for itself: There are 2.8 computers for 2.5 people.  

  • More and more computers. Today there are 2.8 computers for 2.5 people in Sweden.

  • “What do these numbers mean? I guess, that we’re very interested in computers,” says Janne Elvelid, project leader for the study “Svenskarna och internet” (The Swedes and Internet), which is produced by .se (Stiftelsen för internetinfrastruktur). Elvelid points at two trends that might explain the numbers: “We have different computers for different reasons. For instance, we have one computer for listening to music and watching TV while another one acts as a work station, and a third one for the kids and so on. It used to be that we took turns sitting in front of the computer, but that’s no longer enough.”

  • 85% of the Swedish population are internet users compared with USA's 77% or, for instance Japan 74 and China 23%. Swedes also spend more and more time online, the average is over 11 hours per week and about half of the Swedish population belong to a social network.

  • Meanwhile, a great part of the population is without a computer and Internet altogether, a majority of that group is over 75 years old. “There are 800,000 people in Sweden in the older age group, and 66% of them don’t use Internet at all,” Elvelid explains. The foundation .SE is working to increase access to Internet, since being without it gets increasingly difficult. It will get harder to stay in touch with younger family members and friends, and certain services are very Internet-based.

  • For more info, see: .se and 'Svenskarna och internet'
    The full report may be downloaded here: http://www.iis.se/docs/SOI2010_web_v1.pdf (Swedish only)