5. Personal Use of Information Technology
5.1 Computers in Homes
The figures used in this section are taken from the Household Economic Survey conducted by Statistics New Zealand (Statistics NZ 2002), which from March 1998 became a triennial survey instead of an annual one, with the last survey carried out in the 12 months to June 2001. The Household Economic Survey gathers information from around 3,000 private New Zealand households.
Figure 5.1.1 shows a time series from 1986 to 2002 of the percentage of households with a computer. Note that the survey does not distinguish between households with only one computer and those with more than one. The average increase from 1986 to 1998 was 14% pa. Between 1998 and 2001 growth slowed slightly in percentage terms to 12% pa. Assuming continued growth at that rate, an extrapolation for 2002 would be 52%.
Figure 5.1.1: Percentage of Households with a Computer
→ Figure 5.1.1: Percentage of Households with a Computer - Table
In addition to home computers, the survey also asks about the availability of a number of other electronic amenities. Table 5.1 shows the percentage of households responding to the survey that reported the presence of a range of these amenities in 1998 and 2001.
Table 5.1: Percentage of Households with Electronic Amenities
| Amenity in dwelling | 1998 | 2001 |
| Clothes Washing Machine | 97.7 | 97.2 |
| Colour Television | 97.2 | 98.1 |
| Telephone | 96.0 | 93.7 |
| Video Recorder | 79.3 | 82.6 |
| Microwave Oven | 80.0 | 81.7 |
| Dishwasher | 33.3 | 38.9 |
| Home Computer (PC) | 32.9 | 46.6 |
| Cellular Phone | 21.3 | 58.3 |
| Subscriber TV Decoder | 19.7 | 30.8 |
Figure 5.1.2 shows the percentage of households owning four of these electronic amenities from 1990 to 2001. In 1998, the percentage of households with a computer was roughly equal to the percentage with a dishwasher, but by 2001 the percentage with a computer significantly exceeded the percentage with a dishwasher. After steady growth between 1996 and 1998, cellular phone growth rapidly accelerated from 1998 to 2001.
Figure 5.1.2: Percentage of Households with Selected Electronic Amenities
→ Figure 5.1.2: Percentage of Households with Selected Electronic Amenities - Table
5.2 Personal Use of the Internet
The information in this section is based on data from ACNielsen (ACNielsen).
Figure 5.2.1 shows the percentage of people with access to the Internet. The percentage of people with access increased steadily from 42% in the first quarter of 1998 to 75% in the second quarter of 2002, then levelled off.
Figure 5.2.1: Access to the Internet (Percentage of People)
→ Figure 5.2.1: Access to the Internet (Percentage of People) - Table
Figure 5.2.2 shows the percentage of people who have used the Internet in the last four weeks. This increased from 18% in the first quarter of 1998 to 58% in the third quarter of 2002, then fell slightly to 57% in the fourth quarter of 2002. The percentage of people who have used the Internet in the last week increased from 47% in the fourth quarter of 2001 to 52% in the second quarter of 2002, then levelled off.
Figure 5.2.2: Use of the Internet (Percentage of People)
→ Figure 5.2.2: Use of the Internet (Percentage of People) - Table
Figure 5.2.3 breaks down the percentage of people with access to the Internet, shown in Figure 5.2.1, to the locations of access in the second quarter of 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Figure 5.2.3: Access to the Internet by Location (Percentage of People)
→ Figure 5.2.3: Access to the Internet by Location (Percentage of People) - Table
Figure 5.2.4 breaks down the percentage of people who use the Internet, shown in Figure 5.2.2, to the locations of use in the fourth quarter of 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Figure 5.2.4: Use of the Internet by Location (Percentage of People)
→ Figure 5.2.4: Use of the Internet by Location (Percentage of People) - Table
5.3 Cellular Phone Connections
Figure 5.3 shows the number of cellular phone connections between March 1988 and March 2003 based on publicly available figures from Telecom New Zealand and Vodafone.
Growth was rapid, particularly between early 1999 and late 2001. Between March 1999 and September 2001 the number of connections increased by 200%, but since then growth has levelled off. As of March 2003 Telecom had 1,235,000 connections and Vodafone 1,289,000, a total of 2,524,000 for a population of approximately 4,000,000.
Figure 5.3: Cellular Phone Connections
→ Figure 5.3: Cellular Phone Connections - Table
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