Internet use, gaming and gambling

Internet use

On average, the students reported use of the internet on 5.8 days within the last 7 days prior to the survey (Table 11a). The frequency of use was lower in Albania, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Montenegro, Romania and Ukraine (3.8-5.1 days). Students in Denmark (6.8 days), Iceland (6.7 days), Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden (6.6 days each) and Estonia (6.5 days) were online every day of the week. No gender differences were observed.

Internet activities

Overall, 78 % of the students had used the internet for social media activities regularly, i.e. on 4 or more days during the last 7 days (Tables 11a, 11b). Using social media was the predominant internet activity, and was reported by between 58 % (Albania) and 94 % (Finland) of the students. There were gender differences in the use of social media, with higher figures overall for girls than boys. In two thirds of the ESPAD countries, rates among girls were 10 or more percentage points higher than among boys. Exceptions were Albania (63 % for boys versus 54 % for girls) and Monaco (87 % versus 80 %), where more boys than girls reported social media use.

Slightly less than half of the students were regularly (at least four times for each of these activities in the last 7 days) using the internet for information seeking/surfing (43 % on average) or streaming/downloading (48 %). The highest figures for information seeking/surfing were found in Monaco (63 %), Finland (61 %) and Denmark (58 %), and for streaming/downloading in Norway (80 %), Finland (74 %) and Cyprus (67 %). Lower rates (30 % or less) of information seeking/surfing were reported in Montenegro and Portugal, and for streaming/downloading in the Czech Republic. With few exceptions, in nearly all countries, more girls than boys used the internet for information seeking/surfing or streaming/downloading. Nearly every 10th student (9 %) regularly used the internet for buying/selling, ranging from 3 % in Iceland and Liechtenstein to 19 % in Hungary and the Netherlands. On average, 11 % of the boys and 8 % of the girls reported these activities.

Online gaming and gambling

More than one in five students (23 %) used the internet for online gaming regularly (at least four times in the last 7 days) (Table 11b). Nearly half of the students from Denmark played regularly online (45 %). Regular online gaming was not so common in Georgia (13 %), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Moldova (16 % each). Online gaming was much more common among boys (39 %) than girls (7 %). Among boys, the highest figures for the regular playing of online games were found in Denmark (64 %), Sweden (58 %), Estonia (55 %), Norway (52 %) and Finland (51 %), and the lowest in Georgia and Monaco (23 % each). The countries with the highest proportion of girls reporting regularly playing games online were Denmark (28 %) and Monaco (18 %).

Online money gambling was the least common of the internet activities (ESPAD average: 3 %), with the highest figures in Bulgaria (8 %), Albania, Cyprus and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (7 % each). Like online gaming, online gambling for money is predominantly done by boys (6 % compared with 1 % of girls). The highest rates of boys reporting online gambling for money were found in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (11-13 %).

Table 11a. Average number of days on the internet (mean number of days) and prevalence of internet activities on 4 or more days in the last 7 days (percentage)

Table 11b. Prevalence of internet activities on 4 or more days in the last 7 days by gender (percentage)

Gambling

On average, 14 % of the students reported gambling for money at least once and 7 % had gambled frequently (2-4 times a month or more often; Table 12) in the last 12 months. The highest rates of gambling in the past year (30 %) and frequent gambling (16 %) were found in Greece. About one in five students in Cyprus, Finland, Montenegro and Slovenia reported gambling in the past 12 months, and, in addition to Greece, more than every 10th student in Finland and Ireland gambled frequently. In all countries, considerably more boys than girls had gambled in the previous year (23 % versus 5 % on average) or gambled frequently (12 % versus 2 %). About one third or more of the boys in Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Montenegro and Slovenia reported gambling with money in the last 12 months. At least 20 % of the boys reported having gambled frequently in Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro and Slovenia. In Greece, 12 % of the girls reported gambling experience in the previous 12 months and 3 % gambled frequently. Comparably high proportions for girls were also found in Slovenia (11 % gambling experience, 4 % frequent gambling).

Table 12. Gambling for money: prevalence in the last 12 months (percentage)