Analysis of the Popular Use of Internet and Mobile Devices in Mexico

Analysis of internet and mobile device use in Mexico

In Mexico, 88.6 million people use the internet, of which 96.8% use mobile phones to access the internet, confirming the dominant position of smartphones in connectivity, surpassing personal computers as the main connecting device.

According to the 2021 National Survey on Household Information and Communication Technologies Availability and Use (ENDUTIH) by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico (Inegi), 85.5 million internet users use mobile phones as their main internet access device.

In second place are laptops, with 23.9 million people using them as their main internet access tool. In contrast, the use of desktop computers has decreased while the use of TV for internet access has increased, with 22.7 million users ranking it as the second most popular internet access tool.

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Between 2017 and 2021, the proportion of users accessing the internet on mobile phones, smart TVs, and game consoles increased from 89.6% to 96.8%, the proportion of smart TV users increased from 12.4% to 25.7%, and the proportion of game console users increased from 6.2% to 6.5%.

Conversely, the proportion of users accessing the internet on laptops, tablets, and desktop computers decreased by 10.4 and 17.7 percentage points, respectively.

According to ENDUTIH’s estimates, as of 2021, among smartphone users in Mexico, 90.8% use them for instant messaging applications, 77.8% use them to access audio and video content, 76.3% use them for social media, and only 25.2% use them for mobile banking.

Survey data on the popularity of smartphones and computers in Mexican households:

94.9% of households have wired or wireless telephones.

91.2% of households own a television,

66.4% of households have broadband internet,

48.5% of households own a radio,

44.8% of households have a computer.

The proportion of people aged six and above who use computers outside the home has been declining year by year. Currently, this group accounts for 6.9% of the total population. The group of people who use computers at home has not undergone significant changes between 2017 and 2021, and this group accounts for 30.6% of the total population.

The main activities of computer use include entertainment (23.7%), work activities (18.4%), school assignments (17.4%), and training tools (10.1%). Compared to 2017, the use of entertainment activities has decreased by 8.9 percentage points, while the use of training tools has increased by 4.0 percentage points.

In Mexico, the number of internet users aged six and above has been on the rise in recent years.

In 2017, Mexico had 63.7 million internet users,

which increased to 65.5 million in 2018,

rose to 69.6 million in 2019,

and reached 71.5 million in 2020.

According to Inegi’s data, the main frequency of internet use in 2021 is as follows:

89.2% of users use it every day,

9.4% use it at least once a week,

1.0% use it at least once a month.

Among them, 10% of users only use Wi-Fi connection, 13.8% only use mobile network connection, and 75.6% use both types of connections at the same time.

The main uses of the internet include communication (93.8%), searching for information (89.9%), and using social media (89.8%). The proportion of interaction between the government and the public through the internet has increased from 28.0% in 2017 to 42.3% in 2021. In contrast, the activity of searching for information has decreased from 96.9% to 89.9% during the same period.

When analyzing the population of internet users, it can be found that out of 886,000 people, 51.7% are female and 48.3% are male. In addition, 81.6% of users live in urban areas, with only 18.4% living in rural areas.

In terms of age, the highest proportion of internet users are young people aged 18 to 24, accounting for 93.4%. The second highest are the age groups of 12 to 17 and 25 to 34, both at 90.0%. The third highest are users aged 35 to 44, accounting for 82.7%. The internet usage rate for people aged 55 and above is the lowest, accounting for 42.4%. From 2017 to 2021, internet usage trends for all age groups have continued to grow, with the age group of 6 to 11 standing out in particular. Their participation rate increased by 20.3 percentage points from 2017 to 2021.

According to the fourth quarter 2022 National Occupational and Employment Survey (ENOE) data, there are 342,000 people in Mexico working in the information technology industry. Of these, 84% are male and 16% are female, confirming the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The average age of personnel working in the information technology industry is 36 years old, with 42% concentrated in the 30 to 39 age group.

Among these people, the average education level is 16.3 years, equivalent to completing a bachelor’s degree. In terms of educational distribution, 97 out of every 100 people working in the information technology industry have higher education qualifications, of which 95% have a bachelor’s degree and 5% have a master’s degree.

In terms of their professions, software and multimedia developers and analysts occupy the dominant position (75%). The next highest are technical personnel engaged in the installation and maintenance of networks, equipment, and computer systems (12%).

Among every 100 people working in the information technology industry, 88 work in the tertiary sector, mainly in professional, financial, and corporate service departments, while 11 work in the secondary sector, especially in manufacturing. As for the remaining population’s occupation sectors, there is a lack of sufficient information.

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