TEHRAN – Some 97 percent of people with higher education are internet users in Iran, according to statistics released by Information Technology Organization, Mehr reported on Tuesday.

Moreover, 99 percent of people with higher education use mobiles and 93.4 percent of people use computers, the report added.

The internet penetration rate for illiterate people is 8.4 percent and the computer penetration rate is 8.1 percent. However half of illiterate people are mobile users.

The statistics show that 41.4 percent of internet users have elementary school education, 64.4 percent have middle school education, and 88.6 percent of internet users hold diplomas.

Meanwhile, 16.6 percent of internet users are elementary school students, 16.2 percent are middle school students, 35.9 percent are high school students and 29.4 percent are university undergraduates.

Amongst the internet users aged six years old and above, 94 percent use mobile internet. Some 80 percent use internet at their homes, 5.9 percent use internet at their workplaces, 6.7 percent use internet at their educational places, 1.2 percent use internet at libraries, and about 1.3 percent use internet at coffee nets, restaurants, and airports.

According to the statistics, about 29.4 million Iranians use internet at least once a day. Meanwhile, 3.5 million people use internet once a week and 749,000 people use internet once a month.

Cellphone penetration rate

According to the statistics, some 99 percent of people with higher education use cellphones.

Some 80 percent of people with unofficial education and 58 percent of illiterate people use cellphones.  About 97 percent of employed people, 91 percent of unemployed people, and 66 percent of students aged 10 and above use cellphones.

Computer penetration rate

The computer penetration rate is 35.7 percent amongst people with elementary school education. The figure is 46.6 percent among people with middle school education.

The computer penetration rate is 48.6 percent amongst people who hold diplomas and is 93 percent amongst people with higher education.

SB/MG