Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 9) — Close to half of adult Filipinos have already been using the internet even before COVID-19 hit the country, the Social Weather Stations reported.
Some 45 percent of adult Filipinos were internet users as of December 2019, according to the pollster’s Fourth Quarter 2019 Social Weather Report.
Some 1,200 adults took part in the nationwide survey held from December 13 to 16.
The SWS also noted that internet use in the country has been in “a generally upward trend” beginning in June 2006, when the SWS started surveying it. The percentage of adults online has remained at at least 40 percent since March 2018, peaking at 47 percent in December 2018 and September 2019.
Metro Manila still has the highest rate of internet users, rising by three percentage points to 65 percent in December from September 2019. The Visayas also saw figures rise, posting its new all-time high of 39 percent.
The proportion of internet users in Balance Luzon barely moved, with the region recording 50 percent during the month — one percentage point down from September 2019.
Meanwhile, less Filipino adults used the internet in Mindanao, falling to 32 percent in December from the all-time high of 42 percent logged in September last year.
Internet use remains prevalent in younger and more educated Filipinos, with 18- to 24 year-olds making up 86 percent of Filipino adult internet users and college graduates comprising 73 percent of the mix.
Social media use
Facebook remains the social media platform of choice for Filipino adults.
98 percent of adult internet users in the country own an account on the website as of December 2019. This is approximately equal to 29.4 million individuals, or 44 percent of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2019 medium-population projection of 66.2 million.
Youtube is the second most popular platform among Filipino adults, followed by Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Viber, according to the report.
