internet penetration rates in the past five years
Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 198,900 households with Internet access in 2023, accounting for 97.3% of the total number of households in Macao (204,400), up by 1.5 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, 98.8% (196,600) of the households accessed the Internet via mobile network, an increase of 0.9 percentage points.
Internet users in Macao totalled 597,300, up by 26,700 (+4.7%) year-on-year. The Internet penetration rate (92.8%) rose by 2.8 percentage points, with growth recorded across all age groups. The penetration rate for aged 3-14 (76.4%) climbed by 7.4 percentage points. Meanwhile, the rate for aged 65 and above (77.8%) went up by 5.7 percentage points and when compared to 2019, it even surged by 27.1 percentage points, showing the continued integration of technology into the lives of seniors.
As regards the purpose of Internet use, “communication/browsing social media” remained the main purpose (569,300 users, up by 4.8% year-on-year). With the further development of e-government, number of online government services users (excluding health code declaration) rose by 22.0% to 279,500, or surged by 237.2% from 2019 (82,900 users). With respect to the type of government services used, the most common was “enquiring about personal data” (172,700 users), “obtaining public information from government websites or apps” (164,100 users) and “making payments” (99,700 users), rising by 80.3%, 68.5% and 22.2% year-on-year respectively.
Given growing popularity of electronic payment in Macao, there was a total of 449,200 users of “e-banking/mobile payment”, an increase of 17.3% year-on-year. Those aged 3-14 (15,900) and 65 and above (36,700) rose notably by 137.3% and 61.7% respectively.
With changing consumption habits in recent years, the number of online shoppers continued to climb. In 2023, there were 237,600 online shoppers, up by 16.5% year-on-year. Almost 70% of online shoppers (167,500; +18.9%) had bought “clothing, footwear, handbags & accessories, etc.”, whereas nearly 50% (117,200; +9.3%) had purchased “food & beverages, etc.” As outbound travel resumed, people who had bought “travel services” online totalled 26,800, representing a significant year-on-year rise of 325.4%, or a growth of 8.9% from 2019.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the median total online shopping spending was MOP1,500, down by 11.8% year-on-year. However, the median spending on “travel services” more than doubled (up by 150.0% year-on-year) reaching MOP5,000 or increased by 11.1% from 2019.
The Survey on Information Technology Usage in the Household Sector for 2023 was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2023 through a supplementary questionnaire of the Employment Survey, covering all residential units in the Macao Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane, but excluding collective living quarters such as dormitories and care homes for the elderly. Data were collected from individuals aged 3 and above living in the units.