How Many Filipinos are Online? Around 20 Million, Says Nielsen & Yahoo

Posted on July 22nd, 2009. Written by Rico.

Last March, Nielsen and Yahoo conducted a survey of Internet users in the Philippines—apparently coming up with a figure of 20 million local users (22% of the country’s estimated 90 million population), and projecting a 10% increase of Filipinos online yearly. Details on demographics and popular online activities follow.

According to the Nielsen-Yahoo survey, held last year from October to November and covering “some 1,200 people across the Southeast Asian archipelago”, 53% play online games, while 24% check out the news. Most Filipinos going online are apparently between 10 to 29 years old, and “are educated and techno-savvy”. It seems only a few Filipinos are into online banking or commerce, at only 3%.

The last item probably represents an opportunity for entrepreneurs. So long as certain barriers exist though, it might be hard to maximize the potential.

How does the Philippines compare to other countries? US (220 million or 15% of the online world) has lost its lead to China (253 million, 17%), but is more connected with 72.5% of its populace online compared China’s 19%. We are way behind neighbors like Japan (94 million, 6.4%) and India (60 million, 5.2%), but enjoy a relatively high rate of connectivity compared to India’s 4%.

Source 1, Source 2