In 2024, 88.5% of the resident population aged 16 to 74 used the internet in the 3 months prior to the interview (2.7 pp more than in the previous year). Virtually all 16-to-24-year-olds and all persons in education use the internet, with a rate of internet users over 98% for persons (16-74 years old) who have completed upper secondary or tertiary education.

Communicating and accessing information continues to be the main activity carried out by internet users: 93.3% exchanged instant messages (via WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.), 86.7% sent or received emails, 87.9% searched for information about products or services, 84.2% called or made video calls, 82.1% read news and 79.6% participated in social networks.

72.7% of internet users kept at home at least one computer equipment they no longer used, mainly mobile phones (61.8%) or smartphones and laptops or tablets (43.1%); 22.3% sold or offered at least one piece of equipment to other persons and 22.2% disposed of at least one piece of equipment for recycling electronic waste.

More than half of internet users (53.7%) report having considered aspects related to environmental impact when purchasing new computer equipment. However, the price (86.7%) and the characteristics of the hard drive or processor of the equipment (74.7%) are the characteristics that most influence the purchase.

82.5% of internet users use equipment or systems whose operation is connected to the internet (Internet of Things – IoT), 8.6 pp more than in 2022 and 12.0 pp more than in 2020. The most used entertainment equipment is television (72.2%) and game consoles (26.0%).

In 2024, 48.9% of persons aged 16 to 74 placed orders online in the 3 months prior to the interview, 5.0 pp more than in 2023, with this indicator once again showing a more significant increase after the slowdown observed in 2023 (1.2 pp more) and 2022 (2.3 pp more).

90.6% of households in Portugal have internet access at home and 87.0% have a broadband connection. Connections using fixed technologies (84.6%) continue to be predominant, compared to mobile technologies (49.7%).

88.7% of households have access to TV by subscription and 23.7% have access to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) at home. Access to TV by subscription is more common among households with children (95.2%) and in families with greater resources (93.9%), unlike DTT, which predominates in households without children (25.4%) and in households with fewer resources (31.3%).