THE percentage of households having access to internet has increased to 91.7% in 2020 from 90.1% in 2019, said the Statistics Department today. 

Chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said access to mobile phones and computers also increased to 98.6% and 77.6%, respectively, last year. 

“The survey carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic showed that internet usage among Malaysians age 15 and above had increased significantly to 89.6% in 2020 from 84.2% in 2019,” he said in a statement today.

Uzir said the most popular internet activity was participation in social networks.

Internet usage had also significantly increased for services related to education, e-health, e-government, e-commerce and entertainment.

He said more Malaysians had opted to use the internet to order goods or services, seek health information, conduct online banking transactions, participate in informal or formal online courses and get information from government organisations.

Uzir said that the ordering of goods or services via telephone, WhatsApp and Facebook increased to 54.4% in 2020 from 22.5% in 2019.

During the pandemic, the percentage of Malaysians using the internet to seek health-related information or services increased to 61.9% in 2020 from 45.2% in 2019, he added.

Meanwhile, 61.9% of Malaysians had opted for internet banking in 2020, a significant increase compared with 50.5% in 2019. 

In terms of education, individuals participating in informal online courses had increased to 20.8% in 2020 from 9.5% previously, while the number of those taking formal online courses had also more than doubled to 18% in 2020 from 8.1% in 2019. 

On e-commerce, Uzir said the purchase of goods or services via e-commerce platforms such as Shoppee, Lazada and Grab has increased to 45% last year from 35.2% in 2019. 

“The percentage of internet users using e-government platforms to get information from government organisations has also increased by 7.4 percentage points to 52.9% in 2020 from 45.5% in 2019,” he added. – Bernama, April 12, 2021.