E-government
The Covid-19 crisis has led to a sharp increase in the digital exchange of data with the government; 51% of the population has completed and sent forms online in the past year, 11% more than in 2019 before the crisis.
However, 49% of the adult population still does not have digital contact with government services.
The problem is not so much on the supply side: only 4% indicate that there was no possibility to obtain or deliver the information online.
Lack of personal contact (18%), lack of skills (16%) and more reliance on paper forms (15%) are the most frequently cited reasons for not using e-government.
The most active users of e-government are young adults (25-34 years) and highly skilled people: 71% and 70% respectively had online contact with the government.
Older people aged 65-74 (30%) and low-skilled people (28%) use these online services much less.
Only 6% of those who do not have Internet at home seek an external solution, specifically for e-government.
Fill in and send forms via government websites (e.g. via Tax-on-web, web surveys, ...) , but not via email
| Percentage of inhabitants of Belgium aged between 16 and 74 years | |
|---|---|
| Total | 51.4% |
| Brussels | 56.1% |
| Flanders | 53.6% |
| Wallonia | 45.7% |
| Women | 48.9% |
| Men | 53.9% |
| 16-24 years | 37.7% |
| 25-34 years | 70.8% |
| 35-44 years | 64.2% |
| 45-54 years | 54.9% |
| 55-64 years | 43.5% |
| 65-74 years | 29.9% |
| Low level of education | 28.0% |
| Average level of education | 48.1% |
| High level of education | 69.7% |
| Women aged 16-24 | 41.8% |
| Women aged 25-54 | 59.7% |
| Women aged 55-74 | 34.5% |
| Men aged 16-24 | 33.5% |
| Men aged 25-54 | 66.6% |
| Men aged 55-74 | 40.7% |
| Low-skilled women | 26.4% |
| Medium-skilled women | 44.1% |
| High-skilled women | 66.1% |
| Low-skilled men | 29.5% |
| Medium-skilled men | 51.6% |
| High-skilled men | 73.9% |
| Student | 35.7% |
| Employed | 63.4% |
| Employee | 63.8% |
| Self-employed | 60.6% |
| Unemployed | 50.7% |
| Inactive | 34.2% |
| Retired | 34.6% |
| Other, inactive | 33.6% |
| Income household quintile 1 | 34.5% |
| Income household quintile 2 | 44.3% |
| Income household quintile 3 | 49.0% |
| Income household quintile 4 | 63.6% |
| Income household quintile 5 | 60.3% |
E-commerce
66% of Belgians (16-74 years) have made online purchases in the past year, an increase of 11% compared to 2019, before the Covid-19 crisis. The amounts spent and the frequency of purchases are also increasing significantly.
Clothing is the most popular product in e-commerce, over two-thirds of the shoppers surveyed indicated that they had purchased clothing, shoes and/or accessories online in the past quarter, for women this rises to 75%.
| Pattern of spending online shopper | |
|---|---|
| Clothing, shoes or accessories | 67.7% |
| Delivery of meals | 36.1% |
| Downloading or streaming movies or series | 33.3% |
| Downloading or streaming music | 27.7% |
| Cosmetics, beauty or wellness products | 24.6% |
| Furniture, home accessories or garden products | 24.0% |
| Medication or dietary supplements | 21.7% |
| Computers, tablets, smartphones, mobile phones or accessories | 21.7% |
| Books, magazines or newspapers (paper) | 21.0% |
| Sports goods | 19.8% |
Not only are more Belgians buying online, they are doing so more frequently. 14% of shoppers bought goods or services more than ten times in the past three months. In 2019, this was only 10%.
Larger sums are also being spent in the process: 28% of respondents say they have spent 500 euros or more online on a quarterly basis, compared to 19% in 2019.
It is striking that men spend more on average, 16% of them more than 1000 euros. For women this is 10%.
Households without internet
8% of households have no internet connection. This percentage is higher in Wallonia (10%) than in Brussels (7%) and Flanders (6%).
The population groups with the lowest percentage of internet connections are households with incomes in the lowest quintile (77%) and singles (84%).
The percentage of households with children of school age that have an internet connection is 99%; in 2016, 4% of these households had no internet at home.
More detailed figures can be found on the website of Statbel: https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/households/ict-usage-households
Methodological explanation
E-government: Fill in and send forms via government websites (e.g. via Tax-on-web, web surveys, ...)
Quintile: the first quintile group represents 20% of the population with the lowest income and the fifth quintile group represents the 20% of the population with the highest income
Online purchases: online purchases made in the three months prior to the survey
Households: households with at least one person in the age group of 16 to 74 years