CyberAtlas:
Canadian families love their PCs

February 1, 2002

The average online Canadian family spends over 32 hours using the Internet every week, and over 1,600 hours online per year, reports CyberAtlas. This is according to a new study from Ipsos-Reid, who polled 750 online adults with children under the age of 18. Fifty-one percent of the parents said they always or sometimes go online with their children. Fifty-seven percent have guidelines on when and how the computer can be used, and 48 percent place time limits on computer use by their children. Seventy-two percent said telecommuting has allowed them to spend more time with their family. Fifty-nine percent have bought online, and 57 percent have used online banking services. Almost half of the parents polled said their children have some influence on the purchase of new technology for the home, and 56 percent said their children have taught them at least some of what they know about the Internet. Over half of online Canadian families said they would bring their PC rather than their telephone or television if they were to be stranded on a desert island.

How Many Online?

The art of estimating how many are online throughout the world is an inexact one at best. Surveys abound, using all sorts of measurement parameters. However, from observing many of the published surveys over the last two years, here is an "educated guess" as to how many are online worldwide as of August 2001. And the number is 513.41 million.

World Total 513.41 million
Africa 4.15 million
Asia/Pacific 143.99 million
Europe 154.63 million
Middle East 4.65million
Canada & USA 180.68 million
Latin America 25.33 million