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#16 - JRL 7227
Moscow Times
June 18, 2003
10% of Russians Now Use the Internet
By Larisa Naumenko
Staff Writer

Internet penetration in Russia finally broke through the critical 10 percent bar this spring, up from 9 percent this winter, the Public Opinion Fund said in a report released Monday.

According to the survey, which uses Nielsen/NetRatings methodology, there are 11.5 million Internet users over the age of 18 in Russia, or 10 percent of the adult population. An Internet user is defined as a person who has surfed the web at least once in the last six months.

Among the countries surveyed, Russia placed fifth in terms of the number of Internet users, behind Germany, France, Britain and Italy. It was 10th in terms of Internet penetration, behind Spain and ahead of Brazil. The United States, Canada, Japan and China were not included in the report.

Of the total number of Russian Internet users, 3.2 million go online every day, another 3.2 million log on to the Internet once a week, while 2.5 million surf the web once a month, 1.6 million do so once every three months, and 1 million eke onto the survey's radar by using the Internet once every six months.

Of Russia's web surfers, 2.1 million, or 19 percent, are concentrated in Moscow, while 1.9 million users, or 17 percent, live in the Northwest Federal District.

Another 1.9 million Internet users come from the Volga Federal District, while 1.6 million live in central Russia, excluding Moscow. In Siberia, there are 1.3 million, 1.2 million live in southern Russia, 0.9 million live in the Urals Federal District and half a million come from the Far East.

Most Internet users, or 58 percent, in Russia are men. In terms of age, 28 percent of all users are aged 18 to 24, and 18 percent are aged 25 to 34. Users aged 35 to 44 make up 10 percent of the entire Internet audience, 5 percent are aged 45 to 54 and 1 percent are older than 55.

Although the nation's Internet community has been growing at a rate of 1 percent every three months, Public Opinion Fund's Yefim Galitsky said it was possible for the numbers to drop slightly in the next survey, which is scheduled for the summer.

"This might occur due to a seasonal drop seen regularly during the summer," he said.

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