Saturday, October 31 2015 16:52

  43.6% of Armenia's population have internet access, according to the survey "Internet and On-line Banking: Development Prerequisites in Armenia" conducted by Ameria Management Advisory Services. The survey findings were presented on October 30, during the panel discussion among the banks (HSBC Bank Armenia and Ameriabank), telecommunication companies (Beeline and Ucom), providers and IT experts. 

According to the survey findings presented by Artashes Shaboyan, Senior Research Specialist at Ameria Management Advisory Services, Armenia ranks the 73rd in the world in terms of internet access, going side by side with Moldova and Ukraine. At the same time, Armenia's indices are almost twice as low as the indices of developed countries.   
In 2000, the level of internet coverage in Armenia constituted 1.3%. Over the following years it slowly grew and reached 6.2% in 2008. Afterwards, the internet connectivity in Armenia sharply rose to 15.3% in 2009, 25% in 2010, 32% in 2011 and 39.2% in 2012.  So, in 2000-2013 internet connectivity in Armenia grew 36-fold. 

At the yearend of 2013, the share of computer users was 83% of Armenia's population versus 77% in 2012. The number of internet users was 75% versus 68% in 2012. Only one-third of them (24-25%) were active users who spent three and more hours a day on the web.

The average internet connection speed in Armenia is 14.03 Mbps (75th position in the world). The survey points out that in the G8 countries, for instance, this indicator is 32.6 Mbps, in the European Union - 31.5 Mbps, in the OECD - 30.7% Mbps, in the APEC - 36.9 Mbps. The highest indicator is in Singapore - 123.65 Mbps, with the lowest one being in Equatorial Guinea - 0.93 Mbps. 

29% of Armenia's residents have smartphones, however, only 15% of them use the smartphone applications at full capacity. In Yerevan the share of smartphone owners is 38%, with only 17% of them actively using the smartphone options. In Armenia smartphones are mostly popular with youth. The share of smartphone users in the 18-24 age group is 55%, in the 25-34 age group - 52%, in the 35-44 age group - 30%, in the 45- 54 age group - 21%, in the 55-64 age group - 8%. The share of smartphone users aged 65 and above is 5%.
As regards social networks, the number of Facebook users was 800 thousand in 2015, this indicator being twice as high as in 2013. In Armenia Odnoklassniki.ru enjoys bigger demand (1 million users). YouTube ranks the third. The number of Instagram users is also growing.