Lockdown, home office and the “stay home” slogan: it should not come as a surprise that, confined to their own four walls, Luxembourg residents turned to the internet for work, shopping, communication and more.

The national statistics bureau surveyed 1,500 respondents aged 16-74 about their internet habits during the covid-19 lockdown. The responses reflect changes that point towards an increased popularity of certain online services, such as video calls or medical consultations.

The survey indicated that there was a 66% increase of video calls for private use, with 72% of those aged 16-24 and 79% of respondents aged 25-34 having used this method of communication during lockdown.

Although this tendency is not as pertinent amongst those aged 45 and over, it is still largely present, with the clear majority of respondents stating that they had made more video calls than during pre-lockdown times.  

Social media posting & gaming

Indeed, the need to communicate with others seems to have grown quite significantly during confinement, with 75% of respondents indicating that they had posted content on different social networks, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Of these, 38% indicated that they had posted more frequently than before the beginning of the pandemic. 

30% of web users then said that they had played video games online, with half saying that they played more often than pre-lockdown.

Online shopping

In general, 35% of internet users surveyed said they had ordered essential items online during lockdown, with 60% of these saying they had done so more often than before.

25% of all respondents ordered food for take-out or home delivery online. At 27% and 24%, respectively, men slightly outnumbered women in this regard. 

Deliveries increased in the third and fourth quarter, with 31% of respondents indicating they had ordered food online, compared to 23% during the first lockdown.

As for retail therapy, 66% said they had entered their credit card details on retail websites online, representing a +38% increase compared to the start of the year,

Public services and finance

Overall, survey results also indicated that 43% of respondents have turned to the internet for public service enquiries or to fill out and submit forms during lockdown,with  31% indicating that they had done so more often than usual.

Online banking services, already largely widespread pre-lockdown, also experienced a slight boost, with 83% of respondents saying they had used those services compared to 72% before the pandemic.

Especially amongst the 16-24 and 25-34 age groups, this increase was most significant, at +15% and +18%, respectively. 

Medical information 

Finally, the Statec survey indicated that 66% of users turned to the web more than they usually would have for information on health-related issues. 

17% stated that they had an online consultation with a doctor or another health professional during lockdown, a trend that was most prevalent among respondents aged 35-44.