In two decades, the proportion of Brazilian urban households with Internet has increased from 13% to 85%, according to ICT Households 2024

The historical series of the survey completes 20 years and reveals that despite the progress, the quality of access remains a challenge in the country: only 22% of the population has meaningful connectivity

If Internet access in Brazilian homes is now moving towards universalization, two decades ago the scenario was quite different. Launched this Thursday (31st), the ICT Households completes 20 years, presenting in its historical series a portrait of the transformation of connectivity in Brazil over this period. In 2005, when the survey began to be conducted by the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br), a department of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), only 13% of households in urban areas of the country had network access, a contrast to the proportion recorded in 2024: 85%.

The historical series on access to information and communication technologies (ICT) in the country's households and their forms of use by the population aged 10 or older also reveals an expansion of the Internet's presence in the daily lives of Brazilians. While in 2005, 24% of inhabitants in urban areas were network users, by 2024, the percentage had reached 86%, indicating that 141 million people connected to the digital environment in the three months prior to the study. Considering the expanded concept of Internet users, which includes those who stated they had not accessed the network but engaged in online activities on a mobile phone (such as using social networks or accessing websites), the percentage rises to 90%. It is important to mention that in its early years, the survey exclusively investigated households and users in urban areas. Now the comparison was made based on this criteria.

“The two decades of data collection reveal a very dynamic scenario, moving from 1 in every 8 households with Internet in 2005 to 7 in every 8 households connected in 2024. The way people access the Internet has also markedly transformed: in 2008, users connected to the network more in 'Internet cafés' than in their homes, and this access was done via a computer. Currently, almost everyone connects from their homes and via a smartphone,” analyzes Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br|NIC.br.

Despite the advances identified by the historical series of the survey, there are still marked inequalities. The Internet, for example, is present in 100% of class A households, but in 68% of class DE households. In urban areas, 85% of residences are connected, while in rural areas, the proportion is 74%. Additionally, there are 29 million non-Internet users, with 24 million of them living in urban areas, 22 million having completed only up to elementary school, 17 million declaring themselves black or brown, 16 million belonging to classes DE, and 21 million living in the Southeast (12 million) and Northeast (8 million) regions.

The survey also reveals inequality regarding the quality of this access. According to the significant connectivity indicator created by Cetic.br – which includes factors such as cost and speed of the connection, presence of fixed broadband in households, and access via multiple devices, among others – only 22% of individuals aged 10 years or older in Brazil have satisfactory connectivity conditions. This situation includes 73% of individuals in class A, 33% of inhabitants of the Southern region, and 28% of men, but only 16% of women, 11% of those living in the Northeast, and 3% of individuals in classes DE.

“The work carried out by Cetic.br is of great relevance for monitoring the trajectory of digital inclusion in Brazil. It involves 20 years of producing indicators through robust and reliable methodologies, which have been fundamental in helping to support public policies to tackle digital inequalities in the country,” highlights the coordinator of the Internet Steering Committee in Brazil (CGI.br), Renata Mielli.

Usage profile
The data from this new edition of ICT Households was presented in Brasília during the 10^th edition of the Innovation Week, promoted by the National School of Public Administration (Enap). They indicate a general scenario of stability in the indicators, following the increases in connectivity levels and online activities observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. A trend that is becoming consolidated is Internet access via the television. The device is the second-most used for this purpose, at 60%, only behind mobile phones (99%). Until 2019, access via computer surpassed that via TV (42% against 37%), but in 2024, access via television was 20 percentage points above that via computer (40%), the largest historical difference in the survey series.

The study also identified that 60% connect to the network via mobile phones but not computers, and 40% by both. In classes DE, the proportions were 86% and 13%, respectively. Exclusive access via mobile phone was also higher among women (66%) than men (54%), and among black (56%) and brown (66%) individuals than among white ones (51%).

Of Brazilians who own mobile phones, more than half (57%) have prepaid plans, 20% have postpaid plans, and 18% have 'control' plans. This was the first time data was collected on this latter type of plan, which has characteristics of both previous modalities.

Regarding the form of connection, 73% of those who access the Internet via mobile phones do so using both Wi-Fi and the mobile network. Among those in class A, this proportion is 95%, while in classes DE, the percentage is around 57% – another 37% connected exclusively via Wi-Fi, and 6% only via the mobile network.

Digital skills
The ICT Households 2024 identified that digital skills are more prevalent among people with higher education. While 80% of Internet users with higher education stated that they sought to verify the truthfulness of information found in the digital environment, this proportion was 31% among those with elementary education. Overall, this practice was carried out by 52% of users.

Changes in privacy settings to limit data sharing were reported by 58% of those with higher education and 18% of those with elementary education. Among those who reported not possessing any of the digital skills investigated by the survey, 51% had elementary education, and 8% had higher education.

“Despite the advances towards universal Internet access in Brazil, the data from ICT Households also show that the quality of this access is still unequal, impacting the exploitation of online opportunities by different segments of the population,” says Barbosa.

E-government
Online public services related to health were the most performed activity (32%) among Internet users aged 16 or older in the twelve months prior to the survey. Services related to the payment of taxes and fees were prevalent among users in classes A (66%) and B (59%), while online services related to public education (such as Enem, Prouni, enrollment in public schools or universities) were carried out in higher proportions among users aged 16 to 24 (42%).

Among Internet users with formal employment, 46% had sought or used a public service related to tax and fee payments, and 37% a service related to labor rights or social security. Among those with informal employment, these proportions were 26% and 20%, respectively. This was the first time the survey collected information about individuals' type of employment.

Online commerce
Applied every two years, the e-commerce module reveals that the practice of buying products and services online, boosted during the pandemic, remains at a higher level than before the health crisis. According to the survey, 73 million (46%) Internet users engaged in this type of activity in 2024, 6 million more than in 2022 (67 million).

The study also shows that Pix – launched in 2020 by the Central Bank of Brazil – surpassed the credit card (67%) as the most-used payment method in the digital environment, cited by 84%, 18 percentage points above what was observed in 2022 (66%). The largest increases in payment via Pix occurred among classes B (from 63% to 82%), C (from 68% to 86%), and DE (from 60% to 78%). Conversely, the proportion of those paying by bank slip decreased from 43% in 2022 to 24% in 2024, a difference of 19 percentage points.

“This year, the survey highlights the growth of Pix as a payment method for online purchases, driven by social classes DE, with less access to credit cards,” emphasizes the manager of Cetic.br.

Clothing, shoes, and sports equipment (from 64% in 2022 to 71% in 2024) and cosmetics and personal hygiene products (from 34% in 2022 to 41% in 2024) were the product categories with the largest growth in online purchases compared to 2022. A significant increase was also identified in payment for music services on the Internet, rising from 13% of Internet users in 2022 to 19% in 2024. The increase was higher among users aged 16 to 24, whose proportion went from 15% to 32%, and among users in class B (from 22% to 41%).

There was also an increase in the proportion of Internet users who acquired products or services on buy and sell sites (marketplaces), rising from 72% in 2022 to 90% in 2024. Store applications on mobile phones were mentioned by 65% of users who bought online, while 22% mentioned having purchased through social networks. On the other hand, 41% said they had seen advertisements for products or services in social media posts, 49% in Internet videos, and 49% in advertisements on sites or applications.

About the survey
Conducted annually since 2005, ICT Households aims to map access to information and communication technologies in permanent households in the country and their use by individuals aged 10 years or older. In the current edition, data collection took place between March and August 2024 and included 23,856 households and 21,170 individuals.

To check the complete list of indicators, visit: https://cetic.br/pt/pesquisa/domicilios/.

Cetic.br also provides the study's microdata for download, in addition to the complete tables of proportions, totals, and respective margins of error at: https://cetic.br/pt/pesquisa/domicilios/microdados/.

About Cetic.br
The Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br), of NIC.br, is responsible for producing indicators and statistics on Internet access and use in Brazil, disseminating periodic analyses and information on network development in the country. Cetic.br|NIC.br is also a Regional Study Center under the auspices of UNESCO and celebrates 19 years of activity in 2024. More information at https://cetic.br/.

About the Brazilian Network Information Center – NIC.br
The Brazilian Network Information Center — NIC.br (https://nic.br/) is a private, non-profit civil entity responsible for operating the .br domain, as well as distributing IP numbers and registering Autonomous Systems in the country. NIC.br implements the decisions and projects of the Internet Steering Committee in Brazil - CGI.br since 2005, and all resources generated come from its activities, which are predominantly private in nature. It conducts actions and projects that benefit the Internet infrastructure in Brazil. NIC.br includes: Registro.br (https://registro.br), CERT.br (https://cert.br/), Ceptro.br (https://ceptro.br/), Cetic.br (https://cetic.br/), IX.br (https://ix.br/) and Ceweb.br (https://ceweb.br), in addition to projects such as Internetsegura.br (https://internetsegura.br) and the Portal of Best Practices for the Internet in Brazil (https://bcp.nic.br/). It also hosts the W3C Chapter São Paulo office (https://w3c.br/).

About the Internet Steering Committee in Brazil – CGI.br
The Internet Steering Committee in Brazil is responsible for establishing strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil, coordinating and integrating all Internet service initiatives in the country, promoting technical quality, innovation, and the dissemination of the services offered. Based on the principles of multistakeholderism and transparency, CGI.br represents a democratic Internet governance model, praised internationally, in which all sectors of society participate equitably in its decisions. One of its formulations is the 10 Principles for Internet Governance and Use (https://cgi.br/resolucoes/documento/2009/003). More information at https://cgi.br/.

Press Contacts – NIC.br:

Weber Shandwick
https://webershandwick.com.br/
PABX: (11) 3027-0200 / 3531-4950
Milena Oliveira – moliveira@webershandwick.com – (11) 98384-3500
Paula Boracini – pboracini@webershandwick.com – (11) 98123-5235

Communications Office – NIC.br
Carolina Carvalho – Communications Manager – carolcarvalho@nic.br
Ana Nascimento – Communications Coordinator – ananascimento@nic.br

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