The COVID-19 pandemic has led to strong growth in over-the-top (OTT) services, especially voice and video calls, video streaming on demand, attendance of online courses, as well as the online purchase of products.
In 2021, 80% of Internet users made voice or video calls - an increase of 10 percentage points versus 2020 and an increase of 27 percentage points versus 2019. Portugal surpassed the average of the 27 countries of the European Union (EU27) by more than 7 percentage points, rising to 9th position in the ranking of use of this type of service. Considering the total number of individuals and not just Internet users, the penetration of these services would be 66%, exceeding the European average (+1 percentage point) and raising Portugal from 23rd to 14th position in the EU27 ranking. In 2019, Portugal was at the bottom of this ranking.
Instant messaging was used by 91% of Internet users. Use of this type of application in Portugal was 12 percentage points above the EU27 average (6th position in the ranking). If the total number of individuals is considered, and not just Internet users, penetration of this service in Portugal would be 75%. On these terms, Portugal was 5 percentage points above the European average (12th place in the EU27 ranking).
In 2020, around 34% of Internet users subscribed to video streaming services on demand (+20 percentage points versus 2018), with Portugal in 15th position in the EU27 ranking. If the total number of individuals and not just Internet users are considered, penetration of these services in Portugal would be 26% in 2020 (+16 percentage points versus 2018), raising Portugal to 16th position in the EU27 ranking.
Reading online news, engaging in social networks, online music and Internet banking were other services which saw levels of participation among Internet users in Portugal above 50%. The use of social networks, access to online information and online civic and political participation in Portugal was significantly higher than the EU27 average. Internet banking and e-commerce were more popular across the EU27 than in Portugal.
Younger individuals, with higher levels of education, students and people with higher incomes were more likely to use the various over-the-top services, in line with EU27 averages. However, for some over-the-top services, annual growth was higher for groups with lower levels of use, such as use of Internet voice and video calls among retirees and individuals aged 45 or over, and instant messaging among unemployed people and individuals aged 55 to 64.
Consult the statistical report:
- Serviços over-the-top (OTT) 2021 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1713912
