Dutch ICT skills limited

Most of the Dutch population use computers and the Internet for simple tasks. People who use the Internet use it for five different activities on average. Sending/receiving e-mail and browsing are by far the most common activities.

Simple operations

Most people in the Netherlands who use computers and the Internet perform simple operations such as using a mouse, copying and pasting information and using a search engine. Considerably fewer people perform more complex actions such as condensing files, using simple formulas in a spreadsheet or designing a webpage. The more complex an operation is, the more ICT skills it requires.

Computer and Internet skills in the Dutch population, 2005

Workers have more ICT skills

For many people in the Netherlands, computers are part of their daily work. These people learn ICT skills at their work. Indeed people with a job have more ICT skills than people who do not have a job. 

Highest Internet access in the EU

Nearly 80 percent of households in the Netherlands have access to the Internet. This is the highest access rate in the European Union.
Dutch Internet users used it for five different activities on average in 2004. Sending and receiving e-mail and browsing are the most popular uses. Other frequent activities are downloading software, on-line shopping and on-line job searches.

Diversity of Internet activities, 2004

Young and higher educated people more active

Younger people and people with higher education levels are most active on the Internet. Both groups spend more time on the Internet than older people and people with lower education levels. The latter groups use the Internet less intensively, with the exception of higher educated older people.

Dutch in top five on-line shoppers

Thirty percent of the Dutch population purchased at least one product through the Internet in 2005. This percentage is considerably higher than the average 20 percent for the EU as a whole.

Internet access and on-line shopping in the EU, 2005

Vincent Fructuoso van der Veen and Ger Linden