7 out of 10 Mexicans over the age of six have access to the Internet. At the same time, the number of Internet users in 2017 increased by 12% compared to the previous year to 79.1 million people (the population of Mexico is 128 million people). These are the results of a study conducted by the Internet Association.MX.
The average time that users' devices were connected to the Internet in 2017 was 8 hours 12 minutes per day. This does not mean that the user was online all this time, however, the association believes that the time actually spent online by Mexicans has also increased. For comparison, she provides data on other types of activity of Mexicans. On average, every Mexican spends 3 hours a day watching television and 1 hour 45 minutes listening to radio programs.
One of the reasons for the sharp increase in the number of Internet users is the widespread adoption of smartphones and mobile Internet. 89% of Mexicans prefer to access the Internet through their smartphone, 49% — using a laptop and only 34% — from a desktop computer. The use of other devices such as tablets and consoles has dropped noticeably.
Mexican users spend most of their time online communicating on social networks (89%), checking email (84%), sending and reading SMS messages and instant messengers (83%). At the same time, in 2017 there was a sharp increase in the number of users of online games and casinos (73%). The number of Mexicans who prefer listening to streaming audio over all other Internet options increased over the year from 54% to 68%, and those who prefer watching streaming video — from 55% to 65%.
In addition, online shopping occupies a prominent place among the interests of Mexicans: 54% declared their interest in it compared to 37% in 2016. Calling transport through Internet services is of interest to 36% of users. However, 72% of Mexicans believe that calling a taxi online is safer than other methods, and 49% cited shorter waiting times for a taxi.
The lion's share of Internet users in Mexico — aged 25-34 years, 18% — 12-17 years and 17% — 18-24 years old. 51% of Mexican Internet users — these are women, 49%, — respectively, men. Geographically, the largest number of Mexicans who use the Internet live in the central and southern regions of the state.