Access to internet in urban and rural areas in 2023

In 2023, 95% households in EU cities had internet access, compared with 93% in towns and suburbs and 91% in rural areas.

In 2013, the share of EU households with internet access was 9.7 percentage points higher in cities than in rural areas. During the last decade, this gap had closed at a steady pace such that the difference was 4.4 points in 2023.

Source dataset: Eurostat extraction

In 2023, 89% of people in the EU aged 16-74 living in cities used smartphones or mobile phones to access the internet. This was true for 86% of those in towns and suburbs and 82% in rural areas.
Laptops were used more frequently to access the internet in cities (60%) than in towns and suburbs (52%) or rural areas (49%).

The same trend was observed with tablets, where 33% of people in cities used them, compared with 31% in towns and suburbs and 25% in rural areas.

Source dataset: Eurostat extraction

Similar differences are visible when examining engagement in online activities. In 2023, 83% of people aged 16-74 living in cities used the internet to send and receive emails, compared with 78% in towns and suburbs and 72% in rural areas.

People living in cities were also more likely to use the internet to read online news (70% in cities vs. 59% in rural areas) and for banking (69% in cities vs. 58% in rural areas).

Want to know more about urban and rural Europe?

Eurostat released the 2024 edition of Urban Europe and Rural Europe Statistics Explained articles, where you can learn more about the differences in life between European cities, towns and suburbs, and rural areas and see how your country compares.