Number of Internet Users in Brazil Grows by Ten Million in One Year

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The percentage of households in Brazil that used the Internet rose from 69.3 percent to 74.9 percent, from 2016 to 2017, according the Brazilian Statistics Institute (IBGE). A survey by the IBGE shows the increase was of 5.6 percentage points.

“Of the 181.1 million people over 10 years of age in the country, 69.8 percent accessed the Internet at least once in the three months prior to the survey,” stated the report released on Thursday.

According to the Institute, in absolute numbers, this contingent rose from 116.1 million to 126.3 million during the 12-month period.

The biggest surprise was the proportion of those 60 years old or older accessing the Internet. Proportionally, says the IBGE, this was the group which rose the most, from 24.7 percent (2016) to 31.1 percent (2017), an increase of 25.9 pecent.

“About a year ago I put in my smartphone Whatsapp and Uber (applications),” says 83-year-old Rio resident, Carmen Ribeiro.

“I no longer talk to my daughter who lives in São Paulo by phone, nor take regular taxis. Now its only Whatsapp and Uber. Much, much more practical, and cheaper,” she explains.

The use of Internet voice applications like Whatsapp, Skype and Messenger by Brazilians have also led to a decrease of the proportion of households with landlines. According to the survey, households with these types of devices fell from 33.6 percent to 31.5 percent.

Brazilians are not only leaving behind landline phones, but are also using the Internet more through mobile devices. According to the study, the percentage of people who accessed the Internet through mobile phones increased from 94.6 percent in 2016 to 97.0 percent in 2017.

On the other hand, the percentage of people using a microcomputer as an access route to the Internet fell from 63.7 percent to 56.6 percent.