46% of Filipino adults are Internet users, survey says

MANILA, Philippines — Forty-six percent of adult Filipinos use the Internet, a Social Weather Stations (SWS)  survey for the first quarter of 2019 released on Tuesday showed.

In December 2018, a similar survey showed that 47 percent of Filipino adults are Internet users, the SWS noted.

READ: 47% of Filipino adults use the Internet — SWS

The latest survey was conducted from March 28 to 31 using the face-to-face interview method covering 1,440 adults aged 18 years old and above, with 360 respondents each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao.

The SWS has set sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao for the survey.

According to SWS, 50 percent of Filipino women and 41 percent Filipino men are Internet users.

Internet usage was highest in Metro Manila, with 64 percent of residents using the Internet, followed by 48 percent in Balance Luzon, 39 percent in Mindanao, and 34 percent in the Visayas.

The survey also revealed that 56 percent of adults in urban areas are Internet users compared to 38 percent in rural areas.

The results of the latest survey are consistent with previous findings of SWS that showed Internet use is higher among younger and more educated Filipinos, SWS said.

By age, the proportion of internet users was highest among those aged 18-24 years at 86 percent; followed by those aged 25-34 years at 71 percent; 35-44 years at 55 percent; 45-54 years at 30 percent, and; those aged 55 years and above at 14 percent.

By educational attainment, the SWS said the proportion is highest among college graduates at 79 percent, followed by high school graduates (58 percent), elementary graduates (33 percent) and non-elementary graduates (11 percent).  (Editor: Gilbert S. Gaviola)