Most Belgians have no internet access

16 March 2004

BRUSSELS – Over half of the Belgian population still does not have regular access to the internet, a new survey has found.

The study published on Monday by the European Commission shows that 55% of Belgians still do not have a regular connection to the world wide web.

This relatively high figure is the main reason why electronic commerce has still to take off in Belgium, the Commission argued.

Belgium is by no means bottom of the class when it comes to internet connections in Europe however.

In France, 66 percent of the population still has no regular web access and the situation is not much better in Germany, where 64 percent of people have no internet connection.

Overall, the survey found that Europeans are not attracted to e-commerce. Only 16 percent of people questioned said they regularly bought goods or services online.

The figure for Belgium alone was lower at 12 percent but nowhere near as low as in Greece where just 3 percent of the population said they shopped online.

Subject: Belgian news