The trend of use of ICT among households and individuals in Albania

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the use of Internet and its trends among the population of Albania. Since 2018 the country is implementing a harmonized survey with Eu Member States in which several information and communication indicators are produced. These indicators are in line with international recommendation and are standardized in all Member States. This way the results are comparable and make possible the comparison of Albania results with other countries in the world. Using the results of this survey this article aims to comprehend how Albania is placed in relation to other countries in the Western Balkan and EU average. The data are used from a secondary data analysis through administrative data source from national statistics of Albania and Eurostat. Moreover, this article explores the profile of ICT users, such as age and gender, familiarity with the use of ICT and how Albania is placed in comparison with other countries in the region. Such analysis is important and useful in an area where ICT is becoming a substantial part of everyone in our everyday life. As a result, data show that the access of Internet among Albania population is quite high. However, the use of personal computers is still low in the country compare to other Western Balkan countries and EU average. The use of Internet is higher among younger population compared to the older one. However, the growth rate of Internet use is higher in older age compared to the other age groups, implying that Internet is becoming available to everyone. On the other hand, even if the older age group are using more and more Internet, still the use of public government services is quite low for this age group. In a period where 95% of public services are being provided online this means that this age group is becoming vulnerable and dependable to other groups.