Bulgaria Lags Behind in Business Use of Internet, EC Data Show


Brussels, May 7 (BTA Correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) -
Bulgarians's use of the Internet is below the average level in
the EU, show data presented by the European Commission (EC) on
Wednesday. Fifty-four per cent of Bulgarians use the Internet
compared to 75 per cent in the EU on average.

Bulgaria lags behind considerably in online shopping: 28 per
cent of Internet users shop online compared to 63 per cent in
the EU. Twelve per cent of Bulgarian Internet users shop online
cross-border in comparison with 18 per cent in the EU, the data
also show.

Bulgarian citizens interested in receiving content from other EU
countries when at home are 17 per cent, and those interested in
watching or listening to content from home when travelling
abroad are 26 per cent. The corresponding percentages for the EU
are 19 and 27 per cent, respectively.

Fifteen per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in
the EU sell online, compared to just 5 per cent in Bulgaria.
The percentage of SMEs selling online cross-border is 6.5 per
cent in the EU and 2.1 per cent in Bulgaria. The main problems
for selling online cross-border are the high delivery costs, the
expensive guarantees and returns, and the lack of knowledge on
the rules to be followed, the analysis of the data shows.

Asked whether they would start or increase their online sales to
other EU countries if e-commerce rules were the same throughout
the Union, 82 per cent of Bulgarian companies and 57 per cent
of EU enterprises gave an affirmative answer.

Around 40 per cent of Bulgarians compared to 43 per cent of EU
citizens said they are concerned about someone misusing their
personal data when they use the Internet for things like banking
or shopping online. Other concerns include the security of
online payments (22 per cent in Bulgaria and 42 per cent in the
EU) and not receiving the goods or services bought online (18
per cent in Bulgaria and 22 per cent in the EU).

Information and communications technology experts constitute 1.7
per cent of employed individuals in Bulgaria compared to 2.8
per cent in the EU. People who have never used the Internet are
37 per cent in Bulgaria and 18 per cent in the EU.

E-government users returning filled forms to public authorities
constitute 13 per cent of Bulgarian Internet users, as opposed
to 33 per cent of EU citizens. Bulgarian general practitioners
who use electronic networks to transfer prescriptions to
pharmacists are 4.6 per cent, while the average percentage for
the EU is 27 per cent.

The amount of data that is pre-filled in public services' online
forms (notably on the basis of information already submitted by
users) has a score of 19 out of 100 in Bulgaria, while it
reaches 45 in the EU, the data show.