Statistical Analysis of the Spread of Internet in Ukraine

Digital technologies have been rapidly spreading in the world, penetrating in the all the spheres of human life. Ukraine, although integrated in the global ICT markets, has featured slow rates of new technologies dissemination, not least because of the low penetration of Internet. In view of the above, the article’s objective is to analyze statistical data on the spread of Internet in Ukraine.   The analysis reveals that in spite of the significantly grown number Internet subscribers, рercentage of individuals using Internet in Ukraine is only 52% of the population. This level is too low if even compared with the neighboring countries. The gap in Internet use between city and rural areas was 30% in 2016.    By age group, the most active Internet users are youth aged 15–23. However, of the people elder than 55, the number of Internet users is far lower than in developed countries. It is stressed that the official statistical data do not reflect the actual situation with the spread of Internet in Ukraine. The analysis of statistical data on ICT use at enterprises by employment number shows that the most active Internet users are enterprises with 10–49 employees; Internet is used for performing work functions by 31% of the employees. Only 48.8% of respondents from enterprises have got in contact with public administration offices via Internet. The analysis demonstrates the wide gap between Ukraine and developed countries in the ICT field. This is due to the low spread of Internet resulting in the slow penetration of new technologies and standards in the telecommunication sector.