Eight out of 10 households had internet access in 2018, according to figures released yesterday by the state-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Turkish household internet access rose 3.1 percentage points to 83.8 percent in 2018, versus the year before, according to the Information and Communication Technology Usage Survey of TurkStat. A majority of households had broadband internet connections, the survey shows.

The Turkish public's use of e-government services also increased between April 2017 and March 2018, reaching 45.6 percent from 42.4 percent between April 2016 and March 2017. Seeking to get rid of a cumbersome bureaucracy where citizens are required to obtain almost a dozen official papers for simple procedures, Turkey diversified its e-government services and scrapped paperwork for some procedures entirely. The country now ranks 53rd in the world for its e-government development performance, climbing 15 spots from the 68th place in 2016.

Also between April 2017 and March 2018, 29.3 percent of internet users used websites to buy goods or services, up from 24.9 percent in the same period in 2016. More than half of online shoppers purchased clothes and sports goods. It was followed by travel services, from flight, train and bus tickets to rental cars. The least online purchased items were books, magazines and newspapers.