Ankara: Internet usage among Turkish people aged 16 to 74 rose from 90.9% to 92.3% this year, according to a recent survey by the country's statistical bureau, TurkStat on Wednesday. The Internet usage rate among women in the age group was 89.9%, while the rate among men reached 94.8%, the data showed.

According to Anadolu Agency, the rate of people accessing government websites and applications reached 76%, with a disparity between genders as 69.4% were women and 82.7% were men. The age group with the highest use of e-Government services was 25-34 years at 93%, while those aged 65-74 had the lowest rate at 31.3%.

The survey highlighted that Turkish Internet users accessed personal information from government agencies or public services at a rate of 65.6%. Making appointments with public institutions or services followed at 52.6%, and obtaining information from public institutions was at 45.7%.

In e-commerce, 60% of Turkish Internet users bought or ordered goods or services online for personal use, up from 55.7% last year. The data revealed that 48.3% of individuals made purchases or orders within the last three months.

The rate of Internet users engaging in educational, professional, or personal learning activities online rose by 5.2 percentage points year on year to 22.9%. Among these users, 23.5% were women, while 22.4% were men.

WhatsApp emerged as the most-used social media messaging app at 90%, followed by YouTube at 77.6% and Instagram at 71.1%. Women used WhatsApp the most at 87.6%, followed by YouTube at 75% and Instagram at 70.2%. Men also favored WhatsApp the most, at 92.5%, with YouTube and Instagram usage at 80.1% and 71.9%, respectively.

For the types of devices connected to the Internet, smart TVs led with a 62% share. Internet-connected home appliances, such as robot vacuums, constituted 18.6%. Smartwatches and other network-connected wearables, including fitness trackers and security-tracking devices, were also noted.

In the past three months, Internet users prioritized price (89.3%), hardware features (74.7%), energy efficiency (69.9%), and brand/design (69.5%) when purchasing a phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer.