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Table 3: The growth of Internet use in Europe and in Southeastern Europe*
Population
(2007 est.)
Internet users,
latest data
% population
(penetration of
service)
% of total
number of users
in Europe
User growth
(2000-2007)
Europe** 801 821 187 348 125 847 43.4 % 100% 231.2 %
Albania 3 600 523 471 200 13.1 % 0.1 % 18 748.0 %
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Access, piracy and culture: the implications of digitalization in Southeastern Europe
4 552 198 950 000 20.9 % 0.3 % 13 471.4 %
Bulgaria 7 322 858 2 200 000 30.0 % 0.6 % 411.6 %
Croatia 4 493 312 1 684 600 37.5 % 0.5 % 742.3 %
Greece 10 706 290 3 800 000 35.5 % 1.1 % 280.0 %
Macedonia 2 055 915 392 671 19.1 % 0.1 % 1 208.9 %
Moldova 4 328 816 727 700 16.8 % 0.2 % 2 810.8 %
Montenegro 684 736 266 000 38.8 % 0.1 % n/a
Romania 22 276 056 7 000 000 31.4 % 2.0 % 775.0 %
Serbia 10 150 265 1 400 000 13.8 % 0.4 % 250.0 %
*The table is based on the data provided by the Inter World Stats (2008).
**Figures for “Europe” include all 52 countries of Europe.
On the other hand, although this increase in the number of users is rather high,
looking at the penetration rates, there is still significant room for a further increase.
As can be seen in Table 3, half of the SEE countries still have a penetration of Internet
service of less than 20%, while in other countries it ranges around 30% (the span
being from 13.1% (Albania) to 38.8% (in Montenegro)). This shows that the
European level of connectivity to the Internet has still not been reached in all of the
countries. When looking at the penetration of service, we can see that the use of the
Internet is still limited to a rather narrow stratum of people in SEE countries.
The data presented above provides a general insight into the changing nature of
digitalization in the SEE region. Although the usage of ICT is still low in comparison
to Western EU neighbours, it is growing rapidly. This situation can also be partly
attributed to the transition processes of the states in question where problems with
adjustment and implementation of legislature in this field are still present. One should
also mention the SEE region’s poor overall economic position in the last decade (high
unemployment rates, low purchasing power of citizens, etc.) which is an additional
reason for the situation.
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