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Irish net audience growing fast: report
07-11-2007
by Ciara O'Brien

Ireland has the third fastest-growing internet audience in Europe, according to new figures from research firm comScore.

According to the latest data, Ireland's internet users jumped by 16 percent in September, rising to almost 1.5 million unique visitors aged 15 or older, up from nearly 1.26 million a year earlier. Russia topped the charts with 23 percent growth in the year, with 14.6 million unique visitors. Spain came in at number two.

It's worth noting that these figures exclude traffic from public computers such as those in internet cafes, or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

"Many countries in Europe are still demonstrating robust growth in internet usage," said Bob Ivins, comScore's European VP of International Markets. "And given the relatively low internet penetration in several major European countries, there is plenty of upside in the European market. Russia, with only 12 percent of its population online, appears poised for substantial growth."

However, Ireland is still lagging in internet penetration, with only 45 percent of those aged 15 and older going online, compared to the top-rated country the Netherlands, which has 82 percent of its population aged 15 and over online, and the European average of 37 percent.

The average Irish internet user spent 17.5 hours online, viewing 1,702 pages during September, in comparison to 33 hours and 3,252 pages in the UK and the European mean of 24.3 hours and 2,609 pages.

On a Europe-wide basis, the region's internet audience hit an all-time high of 226.7 million unique visitors aged 15 or older, with a 5 percent year-over-year growth. Germany has the largest internet audience, with 33.2 million unique visitors, while the UK is close behind with 32.2 million. Together, they represented 29 percent of the total European online audience.