The number of internet users has increased in Turkey while household access to the internet has also seen an upsurge, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) revealed Thursday.

The rate of internet users reached 82.6% this year up from 79% in 2020. This rate covers people between the ages of 16 and 74.

The rate of households with internet access increased by 2% to 92% this year.

Istanbul, the most populated city, had the highest internet access rate, ahead of the capital Ankara. The majority of users in households used mobile broadband while the rate of the fixed broadband connection for households was 61.9%.

A survey by the institute shows more than 80% of internet users were online almost every day in the first three months of 2021. The rate increased compared to 2020. Another surge was registered in the number of people using e-government services.

Online shopping also rose, with the rate of people using the internet for purchasing goods rising to 44.3% from 36.5% in 2020. Men were ahead of women in terms of online shopping. According to figures from the first three months of 2021, around 70.7% of people purchased clothing, shoes and accessories online while 40.8% used the internet to order food.

Films and series took the top stop among the most purchased or subscribed digital content at a rate of 30.6%, ahead of online purchases of transportation services. Some 37.2% of individuals who bought or ordered goods or services over the internet for private use in the first three months of 2021 did so one or two times, while 17.4% purchased more than 10 times.

These rates were observed as 45.6% and 11.2% respectively, in the same period last year.

The top reasons cited by 34.8% who had access to the internet but did not purchase goods or services online in the first three months of 2021 were that they preferred to shop in-person, like to see the product, loyalty to certain shops and force of habit. This was followed by 28.8% who did not feel the need to buy online in the last three months.