With digital communication rising exponentially over the last two decades, it’s worth knowing the full picture of how Australians use this platform.

General Internet Usage Statistics

1. At the end of June this year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported 8.4million active internet subscribers in Australia. Sunshine Coast Daily, June 2009
2. According to ComScore Australia’s internet population over the age of 15 in 2009 grew to 12.6 million Australians from 11.3 in 2008. ComScore, November 2009
3. 19% of Australia’s internet population is 55+, 18% is 45 – 54, 21% is 35 – 44, 20% is 25 – 34 & 21% is 15 – 24. ComScore, November 2009

4. In October, Australian users spent 27.2 hours browsing online. Nielsen, November 2009
5. According to ComScore some of the most popular retail categories visited online by Australian internet users include Computer Hardware 22.4% of internet users, Books 21.4% of internet users& comparison shopping sites 18.2%. ComScore, November 2009
6. Around 3 million Australians illegally download music every year, that is 1 in 4 Australian internet users. November 2009

Social Media

7. A study on social networking usage in Australia, found more than 70 percent of Internet users in Australia visited a social networking site in June, up 29 percent from the previous year. ComScore, August 2009
8. Facebook’s now accounts for 29 per cent of all time spent online by Australians – this has seen research group Nielsen define the trend as Facebook Time and Non Facebook Time. Nielsen, November 2009
9. October social networking usage - Facebook’s unique audience was 8.1 million, followed by MySpace which was steady on 2.3 million users while Bebo lagged well behind on 358,000. Nielsen, November 2009
10. Australian Facebook users uploaded 80 million pictures, wrote 32 million wall posts and 45 million status updates in October. Nielsen, November 2009
11. Twitter growth in the past 12 months in Australia equates to 1150%. November 2009

12. 79.1% of internet users in Australia view online video. Universal McCann, July 2009
13. YouTube receives 6.17 million monthly Australian visitors. ComScore, 2009
14. Wikipedia received 5.2 million Australian visitors. Nielsen, November 2009
15. Blogger received 3.1 million Australian visitors. Nielsen, November 2009
16. Yahoo!7 Answers received 2.5 million Australia visitors. Nielsen, November 2009

Online Advertising

17. Australians are some of the least likely to click on online display ads in the world. Latin America and Europe record double the CTR in Rich Media than that of Australasia and North America with the global average standing at .1%. Eyeblaster Research, 2009
18. One third of Australian consumers exposed to an online ad are able to recall that ad when asked. Nielsen Online, November 2009.
19. Australia’s online advertising industry hit record levels for Q3, with online ad spend now equating to $466 million. IAB Australia, November 2009
20. Search and Directories account for 51 percent of the total advertising expenditure in Oz General Display accounts for 26 percent and Classifieds 23 percent based on Q3 2009. IAB Australia, November 2009

21. Search and Directories grew 12 percent for Q3 year on year; while General Display declined 3.8 percent and Classifieds declined 5 percent. IAB Australia, November 2009
22. Online video advertising equates to 4% of the total general display advertising market in Australia. IAB Australia, November 2009
23. CPM advertising equates to 75 percent of the general display category, with only 22 percent reported for response and 3 percent for hybrid in Australia. IAB Australia, November 2009
24. Finance, Computers & Communications and Motor Vehicles dominant General Display advertising, comprising of 42 percent of the General Display spending. IAB Australia, November 2009

Mobile Phone

25. A third of all Australians now check emails on their handset. Australian Interactive Media Industry Association Survey, September 2009
26. Year on year Australians accessing social media sites from their handset have grown from 7% to 32%. Australian Interactive Media Industry Association Survey, September 2009
27. Telsyte forecasts that mobile ad spend will grow to $20 million by the end of 2009 from just $7 million in 2008. Business Spectator, November 2009
28. Page views of Australian mobile internet sites grew 24.4% between October 2008 and July 2009. July 2009

29. 39% of Australian respondents stated in a recent survey that they would accept ads on their mobile phone in exchange for free mobile content or special offers. AIMIA, September 2009
30. 43% of Australian respondents stated in a recent survey that they had used their phones to carry out a mobile search in the last 12 months, compared to 47% who stated they intend to do so in the next 12 months. AIMIA, September 2009
31. 25% of respondents have used their mobile phone for banking in the last 12 months. Males, (26–40 year olds), and those single or living independently are more likely to use the phone for banking. AIMIA, September 2009
32. 14% of respondents to a recent survey stated they have used their mobile phone to buy things not for their mobile phone. Males, those living single independently, and those 25 years and under were also more likely to use their mobile phone to pay for other things. AIMIA, September 2009

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