The Internet is everywhere, all the time, among young and old. Every day, France has 47.4 million Internet users, up 4% compared to 2022, or 74% of French people. And each month, Médiamétrie counts 55.7 million Internet users, or 87% of French people, up 3% compared to 2022. The particularity of 2023 is that growth is driven by the age group which had always stayed away from the web: those aged 65 and over. In 2023, in fact, more than 8 out of 10 (81%) will connect to the Internet every month, i.e. 5 times more than 15 years ago, with a clear preference for the smartphone to connect to the Internet: a common point between seniors and young people.
Obviously, the strong growth of the Internet is justified by the omnipresence of mobile in uses: every day, nearly 4 out of 10 French people use a mobile exclusively to connect to the Internet. Médiamétrie points out that 79% of time spent on the Internet is done on a mobile for all Internet users.
While the time devoted to television decreases from year to year to stand at 3h19, that devoted to the internet reaches 2h24 in 2023 for the entire population, an increase of 5% compared to 2022 (+6 min vs 2022, +50min in 5 years). But the time spent surfing the internet varies greatly depending on the age target: 15-24 year olds spent 3 hours 58 minutes per day on the internet, certainly down 1% compared to 2022, but significantly more than the time spent on television which is 1h17 for 2023.
But what do we do with all this time spent on the internet? There is no shortage of activities: social networks, information, e-commerce, video, podcast. Médiamétrie has dissected these precious minutes that we spend on the internet: for example we spend 56 minutes per day on social networks and more than 8 out of 10 French people surf on video sites each month; 69% of us also visit news sites every month.