The e-society in 2005: more than a third of EU25 population have no basic computer skills

In the EU251, in 2005, 37% of people aged between 16 and 74 had no basic computer skills2. This percentage was slightly higher for women (39%) than for men (34%). Among Member States for which data are available, the survey showed notable differences between countries. Large differences also existed between age groups and between different education levels.

These figures are published3 by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

e-literacy still a problem for parts of society....

Within the Member States for which data are available, more than half of the population surveyed had no basic computer skills in Greece (65%), Italy (59%), Hungary (57%), Cyprus and Portugal (both 54%) and Lithuania (53%). On the other hand, less than a quarter of the population in Denmark (10%), Sweden (11%), Luxembourg (20%), Germany (21%) and the United Kingdom (25%) were non e-literate.

Among older people the proportion was higher. In the EU25 on average, 65% of people aged 55 to 74 had no computer skills. This percentage ranged from 27% in Denmark and Sweden to 93% in Greece.

In the 25-54 age group in the EU25, 29% lacked basic e-skills, while 17% had low level skills2 (compared to 15% for the total population), 29% medium level skills2 (compared to 26%) and 25% high level computer skills2 (compared to 22%). In Denmark and Luxembourg, 45% of this age group claimed to have high level computer skills, as against 10% in Greece and 11% in Latvia and Poland.

Among 16-24 year olds, 10% in the EU25 were unable to use a computer even for basic tasks, with the highest ratio found in Hungary (34%), Greece (32%) and Italy (28%). On the other hand, 40% of those in this age group in the EU25 had high level e-skills - the largest ratio being in Slovenia (67%), Luxembourg (64%) and Denmark (59%).

As a general rule, the unemployed were more likely to have no computer skills than the population as a whole, except in Greece, where 56% of unemployed had no computer skills, compared to 65% of the total population, Cyprus (42% compared to 54%), Germany (16% compared to 21%) and Sweden (10% compared to 11%).

....but education helps

In all Member States education level played an important role in improving e-skills, with levels of non e-literacy falling as education levels rise. On average in the EU25, only 11% of those with higher education had no basic computer skills, ranging from 2% in Sweden to 24% in Estonia, while 41 % claimed high level skills.

Among students4 in the EU25, only a small percentage had no or low computer skills (4% and 11% respectively). In this group 41% had medium level skills while 43% had higher level skills.

Percentage of population with no basic computer skills, 2005

: Data confidential or not available

Percentage of population with low level of basic computer skills, 2005

: Data confidential or not available

Percentage of population with high level of basic computer skills, 2005

: Data confidential or not available

1. Data not available for Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain, France, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands and Finland. An EU25 aggregate is only calculated if the available countries represent at least 55% of the number of Member States and 60% of the EU population.
2. Skills surveyed included ability to :

- use a mouse to launch programs such as internet browser or word processor;

- copy or move a file or folder;

- use copy and paste tools to duplicate or move information on screen;

- use basic arithmetic formula (add, subtract, multiply, divide) in a spreadsheet;

- compress files;

- write a computer program using a specialised programming language.

In the survey, persons who ticked none of these six items were classed as having no computer skills, those who ticked 1 or 2 of these skills were classed as having low level basic computer skills, those ticking 3 or 4 were classed medium level, and those ticking 5 or all items were classed high level.

1. Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, Industry, trade and services 17/2006 "How skilled are Europeans in using computers and the internet?". This publication is available free of charge in PDF format on the Eurostat website.
2. 'Students' refers to individuals in formal education (in educational institutions such as school, university, etc.).