In the last three months prior to the 2021 survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, one in two EU citizens (55%) aged 16-74 reported that they had sought online health information related to injury, disease, nutrition, improving health or similar.
Source dataset: isoc_ci_ac_i
The share of people seeking health information online for private purposes varied across EU Member States. In 2021, the highest share was recorded in Finland, where 80% of people aged 16-74 searched online for health-related topics in the last three months prior to the survey, followed by the Netherlands (77%), Denmark (75%) and Cyprus (74%).
In contrast, the lowest shares were observed in Bulgaria (36%) and Romania (40%), followed by Germany (45%) and Poland (47%).
Cyprus reports highest increase in searching for health information online
Over the last decade, the share of individuals seeking health information online has risen in almost all EU Member States with an increase of 17 pp in the EU from 2011 (38%). The highest increases in the number of people looking for health information online were recorded in Cyprus (+46 pp), followed by Czechia (+33 pp), Malta (+32 pp) and Spain (+31 pp).
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Methodological notes:
- Data come from the Community survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals. Further methodological information related to the survey can be found in the relevant website section.
- The results above refer to individuals’ experiences during the last three months prior to the survey, i.e. the first quarter of 2021.
- EU, 2021: break in time series
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