More than 80% of people in Ireland have used the internet for shopping, banking, booking or ordering services this year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has found in its Digital Consumer Behaviour 2022 study.

Email remains the most popular internet activity, with 91% of users surveyed having used email in 2022, down marginally from 93% last year, while 85% of users used video call software such as Zoom, up from 80% in 2021.

Internet banking has shot up in popularity this year though, with 90% of users now banking online, up from 80% a year ago.

In terms of online shopping, the most popular purchases remain clothes, shoes, and accessories such as bags and jewellery. Some 71% bought such items online this year, down from 80% in 2021.

Conversely, the proportion of people ordering ready-made food, including takeaways, online rose from 50% to 58% year-on-year.

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Almost four in ten (39%) internet users made an online appointment or reservation with public authorities or services such as the passport service or a hospital appointment.

In 2022, almost one in seven (15%) internet users had rented accommodation (room, apartment, house, etc.) via a website or app from a private person, on Airbnb, for example. This compares with just 4% of internet users in 2021 and 10% in 2020.

More than three in ten (31%) internet users reported doing an online course in 2022 unchanged from 2021, while 38% of internet users reported using online learning resources such as e-textbooks or online learning software.

Almost four in ten (39%) internet users in 2022 made an online appointment or reservation with public authorities or services such as with the National Driver Licence Service, the Passport Office, or public health appointment with a hospital.

Of internet users who had accessed the online services of a public authority or service, more than six in ten (62%) had encountered no problems at all.

One in four (26%) respondents said the digital platform was difficult to use and not user-friendly, while one in five (21%) experienced technical problems, such as when setting up their MyGovID to access online public services.

Dubliners were the most likely to shop online (87%), followed by those in the south-east (84%), but internet users in the midlands were least likely (70%).

"There were varying levels of Covid-19 restrictions in place in the first half of 2022. The pandemic resulted in greater use of ICT and the internet, and, at times, different patterns of digital consumer behaviour," said Maureen Delamere, statistician in the social analysis division at the CSO.

"At an overall level, more than nine in ten (92%) persons aged 16 years and older used the internet within the previous three months (from when they took part in the survey).

"Just 1% had used the internet but not recently (not within the previous three months) and only one in fourteen (7%) had never used the internet."

(Pic: Getty Images)