People with a disability less likely to use the internet / Article

In all EU countries, the share of people who had used the internet within the previous 12 months was lower among people with a disability than among those without.

In relative terms, the widest disability gaps in 2024 were observed in Bulgaria and Greece, where the shares for people without a disability were, respectively, 1.6 and 1.5 times higher than those for people with a disability. The narrowest disability gap was in the Netherlands, followed by Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg and Finland.

In Latvia 84.6% of people with a limited or severe disability had used the internet in comparison with 98% among people without a disability.    

In 2024, the share of people in the EU who used the internet regularly was 93.5% among people without a disability, 86.0% for people who were limited in their activity and 78.2% among people who were severely limited.

When analysed by age and sex, the disability gaps for regular internet use in the EU in 2024 were quite similar, always with a higher share of use for people without a disability and a lower share for people who were severely limited. The gender disability gaps were relatively narrow.

Unlike the analysis by sex, an analysis by age shows substantial differences in regular internet use. There was a clear age gradient, with a notably lower proportion of internet use among people aged 55 to 74 years than among younger people, regardless of their disability status. Furthermore, the disability gap was larger for people aged 55 to 74 years than for people aged 16 to 24 years.

Tell us about a mistake