Ticos Surfing Web More Than Peers

Thirty-nine percent of Costa Ricans – or 1.6 million people and almost double the worldwide rate – use the Internet regularly, according to recent studies.

Most nations have a user rate of about 21 percent, according to CID-Gallup organization, a Costa Rica-based polling firm that conducted a survey in May of Costa Ricans.

Ticos appear relatively computer savvy, with more computers (238) per 1,000 people than their Latin American peers, according to the World Bank. Chile has 133, Mexico 108, Brazil 105 and Guatemala 19.

Young Costa Ricans have particularly taken to hopping online. Nine out of 10 students ages 12 to 24 are using e-mail, according to a recent University of Costa Rica study conducted by the Information and Knowledge Society Program.

CID Gallup’s survey found the average Costa Rican user was 29.

An increasing number of families have computer access at home. About 41 percent of homes, up from 39 percent in December, have computers now, CID Gallup reported.

The polling agency likewise reported that 44 percent of those computers are connected to the Internet.

–Leslie Friday