92 million Brazilians access the internet exclusively via mobile phone

This is a machine translation of a press release by CGI
The majority of Brazilian Internet users (62%) access the network exclusively via cell phones, the reality of more than 92 million individuals. The conclusion is from ICT Domicílios 2022 , launched this Tuesday (16) by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br). The new edition of the survey, carried out by the Regional Center for Studies for the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Information and Coordination Center of Ponto BR (NIC.br), reveals that the use of the Internet only by cell phone predominates among women (64%), among blacks (63%) and browns (67%), and among those belonging to classes DE (84%).
The survey investigated for the first time the digital skills of Internet users, regardless of the device used to access the network. More than half (51%) said they sought to verify whether information they found online was true. The percentage dropped when the question was directed to those who accessed the network only through their cell phones (37%), and it was higher among those who connected through multiple devices — both through the computer and through cell phones (74%).
A similar situation occurred when respondents were asked whether they had adopted security measures, such as strong passwords or two-step verification, to protect devices and accounts: only 33% of those who accessed the network exclusively via cell phones adopted these measures, while among users who accessed by multiple devices the proportion was 69%. The survey also investigates changing privacy settings on devices, accounts or apps to limit sharing of personal data (cited by 23% of mobile phone-only users and 57% of multi-device users) and creating computer programs or cell phone applications using programming language (3% and 7%, respectively).
“In this edition, the digital skills indicator was applied to all Internet users in the country. The data indicate that those who access the network via computer report these skills in greater proportions than those who only use cell phones. Significant connectivity — that allows users to get the most out of the Internet — does not depend only on a good connection to the network, but also on the quality of the devices”, emphasizes Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br|NIC.br.
While the connection via computer remained stable (38%) compared to the previous edition of the study, the use of television to access the Internet continues with an upward trend, rising from 50% to 55% between 2021 and 2022. remain as the second most used device to access the network in the country, behind only the cell phone (99%).
connectivity challenges
Of the 149 million Internet users in the national territory, 142 million connect every day, or almost every day — with prevalence in classes A (93%) and B (91%) and in smaller proportions in C (81%) and DE (60%). At the other extreme, 36 million Brazilians are not Internet users. This group is larger among inhabitants of urban areas (29 million); with education level up to elementary school (29 million); blacks and browns (21 million); classes DE (19 million); and aged 60 and over (18 million).
Among the main reasons given by those who never accessed the Internet, lack of interest (35%) and lack of computer skills (26%) were the most cited. When considering only class A, the “lack of interest” jumps to 90%. The “lack of skill” increases when the cut is made in the age group of 35 to 44 years old, rising to 45%.
“The research points out that there was a relevant advance in the use of the network in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the indicator stabilized again in 2022. Brazil still has an important path to go in the universalization of access, adopting specific strategies to the digital inclusion of the most vulnerable populations”, evaluates Barbosa.
access in homes
The presence of Internet in households was also stable between 2021 and 2022, reaching 60 million Brazilian households, which corresponds to 80% of all households in the country. There was stability in the presence of connection in households in urban (82%) and rural areas (68%) and in all social strata analyzed: class A (100% of households connected), B (97%), C (87 %) and DE (60%).
Cable or optical fiber remains the main type of connection in Brazil, present in 38 million households, especially those in the southern region, where 72% of households adopt this technology. On the other hand, the North region has the highest proportion of households whose main connection is via the 3G or 4G mobile network (27%).
Among the connected households, 16% share the connection with the neighboring household. This situation is more common in rural areas (27%), in the North (21%) and Northeast (22%) of Brazil and in classes C (16%) and DE (25%). “We observed that greater connection sharing occurs between strata where the proportion of households without Internet access is also greater, indicating the existence of barriers to connectivity”, analyzes Fabio Storino, research coordinator.
In the case of households without access to the network, the price of the service, as seen throughout the historical series of the survey, was pointed out by respondents as the main reason (28%) for not connecting, followed by lack of ability (26 %) and lack of interest (16%).
E-commerce
The current edition of TIC Domicílios also released the results of the e-commerce module, which had been applied for the last time in the 2018 survey. The study showed that 67 million Internet users purchased products and services online in 2022. on the rise, even after the end of the social distancing measures imposed by the pandemic.
“With the health crisis caused by the new coronavirus and the consequent social isolation, there was an increase in the proportion of people who buy online , a proportion that remained in 2022. There was also an increase in the types of products purchased over the Internet, revealing a change in the country’s e-commerce profile in recent years,” says Storino.
Compared to 2018, the category of clothing, footwear and sporting goods stood out in online purchases , being cited by 64% of those who purchased via the Internet in 2022, a proportion that was 49% in 2018. home and appliances (from 45% to 54%) and food and food products (increase from 21% to 44%).
Regarding online services, the ones that grew the most in the period were: ordering a taxi or drivers using applications (from 32% to 40%); pay for movies or series on the Internet (from 28% to 38%); and ordering meals on websites or apps (from 12% to 33%).
The most used form of payment for purchases in the digital environment in 2022 was credit card (73%). Pix, launched in late 2020 and measured for the first time by the survey, came in second (66%). “Despite being a newer means of payment, Pix was used by 44 million Brazilians for online purchases, including 23 million from class C and 5 million from classes DE”, comments Storino.
online activities
More than half (51%) of respondents made inquiries, payments or other financial transactions on the Internet in 2022, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to the previous year (46%), which occurred mainly among users from classes C (from 45% to 51%) and DE (from 21% to 26%). Users from classes A (90%) and B (73%) continue to perform this activity in greater proportions.
Regarding multimedia activities, watching videos, programs, films or series online was the most prevalent (80% in 2022 against 73% in 2021). In all the multimedia activities investigated, there was a greater proportion of accomplishment among male users than among female users, with the greatest differences relating to playing online (performed by 45% of men and 30% of women) and listening to podcasts ( 38% and 25%, respectively).
The proportion of those who posted their own content on the Internet (texts, images or videos) jumped from 31% (2021) to 43% (2022). “In 2022, we witnessed an explosion of short and quick posts, facilitated by social networking applications and instant messaging and stimulated by the resumption of face-to-face activities”, explains Storino.
“The production of data carried out by Cetic.br is essential, as it allows us to understand the nuances of Internet use in the country and guide the production of public policies in several areas, not only those that seek to expand access, but also those that contribute to meaningful connectivity and the development of digital skills”, highlights Renata Mielli, coordinator of CGI.br.
About the search
Held annually since 2005, ICT Households aims to map access to information and communication technologies in urban and rural households in the country and how they are used by individuals aged 10 years or older. In the current edition, data collection took place from June to October 2022 (an earlier period compared to 2021, when data collection took place from October of that year to March 2022), and included 23,292 households and 20,688 individuals.
To see the complete list of indicators, visit . The online release is available in full .
Cetic.br also provides the study’s microdata for download , in addition to the complete tables of proportions, totals and respective margins of error.