Swedish Web Surfers Grow to 3 Million

Nearly 3 million people, 33 percent of the population, are connected to the
Net in Sweden, with a growth rate of 36 percent in the past year, according
to RelevantKnowledge and its
Swedish partner, Sifo Interactive Media.

More than 800,000 more people connected in 1998, the firms said. More than half of those who use the Internet say they connect every day.

Women represented 60 percent of the growth during 1998. During December
1998, 36 percent of all females between 12 and 79 year in Sweden were
online. For men in the same interval, 48 percent were connected.

Young people make up the most users, as 72 percent of 12 to 24-year-olds
were online in December 1998. For people between 50 to 79 years, only 19
percent surfed the Net.

As 1998 showed substantial growth, Lars Bjorkman, managing director for
Sifo Interactive Media expects that growth rate to increase in 1999.

The following sites were visited most often by Swedish users during
December 1998:

1. Microsoft
2. Passagen–a Swedish portal
3. Hotmail
4. AltaVista
5. Tele2–Swedish ISP
6. Telia–Swedish ISP
7. Telenordia–Swedish ISP
8. Aftonbladet–Swedish newspaper’s online site
9. Torget–a Swedish portal
10. GeoCities

More than 1 million Net users visited a shopping site during the last month,
with almost one third of them purchasing goods. In sync with the U.S.
demographics, men between 25 and 34-years-old are the main Net shoppers.