Mexico. The Federal Institute of Telecommunications, IFT, presented the update of the study "Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and Internet activities in Mexico: Impact of the sociodemographic characteristics of the population" in the 2019 edition, based on the results of the National Survey on Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Homes (ENDUTIH), which gives continuity to the studies published in 2017 and 2018.
When analyzing the internet and the effect that the educational level has on its probability of use, it is observed that, at the national level, the average probability that a person in Mexico uses the internet is 65.8%; however, for the population that does not have any completed educational level this probability is 22.7%; while those with high school is 88.5%. Therefore, a higher level of education increases the likelihood of using the internet.
Likewise, it is shown that only when moving from primary to secondary level increases from 41.8% to 71.4% the probability of using the internet; from 34.7% to 70.3% of using the smart mobile phone and using the internet for training or education from 24.2% to 45.5%.
As for the economic level, going from a household with a low income, that is, less than $ 12 thousand 283 pesos per month, to one with an average income between 12 thousand 883 and 27 thousand 307 pesos per month, increases the probability of using the internet and the smart mobile phone by more than 20 percentage points, that is, it went from 43.7% to 69.9%, in the case of the internet and from 42.8% to 65.3%, in smart mobile telephony, which is relevant since this device is the main means to connect above computers and tablets.
Regarding employment, 13.8% of those who work are most likely to carry out banking operations; 18.8% online purchases and sales 8.9%. In the case of consumption of paid audiovisual content, it is highlighted that those who are most likely to consume these contents are students with 77.6 percent.
The study shows that, on average, the population between 18 and 34 years of age is the most likely to use ICT and perform activities on the Internet (except for conventional mobile phones), and that the population over 55 years of age is the least likely to do so; while living in a rural or urban area is also a determining factor, since, in the case of the internet, the probability of use when living in an urban area is 32.5 percentage points higher than that of living in a rural area by passing 40.6%. to 73.1 percent.
The study includes an analysis focused on the population of women and girls aged six and over living in Mexico. Among the main results is that women without education or who only have primary education are less likely to use the internet, even for social networks or consume free audiovisual content. It also highlights that only women with a bachelor's or postgraduate degree are highly likely to bank, shop and sell online.
Likewise, for each ICT and Internet activity analyzed, the profile with the highest and lowest probability of use is included. That is, the combination of characteristics that the user has with greater and lesser probability is identified.
The ICTs analyzed in the study were the conventional mobile phone, smart mobile phone and internet. While the activities on the Internet that are included are: use of social networks, consumption of paid and free audiovisual content, purchases, sales, banking operations and use of the internet for training or education.
Finally, it is important to note that the study analyzes the influence of the main sociodemographic characteristics of the population: age, sex, occupation, income, educational level and place of residence, on the probability of using ICT and carrying out certain activities on the Internet, as well as different levels of geographical disaggregation, by state, in the 49 cities included in the ENDUTIH and by urban and rural area, which allows federal, state and even municipal governments to use the results presented to develop public policies that promote the use of ICT and internet activities in Mexico and carry out targeted actions for the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
The study "Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and Internet activities in Mexico: Impact of the sociodemographic characteristics of the population" can be consulted in the BIT: https://bit.ift.org.mx
