Statistics Norway

Division for R&D, Technology and Business development

Postboks 0664, Agmund Bolts vei 11, Oslo

The EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals is an annual survey conducted since 2002. In Norway, it has been conducted since 2003.

In 2022, the survey collects data on the access to information and communication technologies (ICT), on the use of the internet, e-government, e-commerce, internet of things, as well as green ICT.

National language: Bruk av IKT i husholdningene.

English: ICT usage in households

Questionnaire(s) in national language(s) and the translation in English are available in the annex.

The following common concepts and definitions apply under the Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS):

• the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011 published in the following breakdowns: low (ISCED levels 0-2: no formal education, primary education or lower secondary education), medium (ISCED levels 3-4: upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education) and high (ISCED levels 5-6: tertiary programmes which normally need a successful completion of ISCED 3 or 4, or second-stage tertiary education leading to an advanced research qualification);
• the International Standard Classification for Occupation ISCO-08 at the 2-digit level;
• the Classification of Economic Activities (NACE Rev.2-2008), at section level;
• the Common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS 1) – finer granularity of NUTS 2 is provided on optional basis by some Member states;
• the SCL - Geographical code list;
• information about household income is provided at lower level of detail. 

Additional classifications used in the national questionnaire: No deviations

The ICT survey in households and by individuals covers those households having at least one member in the age group 16 to 74 years old. Internet access of households refers to the percentage of households that have an internet access, so that anyone in the household could use the internet.

The ICT survey in households and by individuals cover those households having at least one member in the age group 16 to 79 years old.

The survey is collecting data of internet users, individuals who have used the internet in the three months prior to the survey. Regular internet users are individuals who used the internet, on average, at least once a week in the three months prior to the survey.

This annual survey is used to benchmark ICT-driven developments, both by following developments for core variables over time and by looking in greater depth at other aspects at a specific point in time. While the survey initially concentrated on access and connectivity issues, its scope has subsequently been extended to cover a variety of subjects (for example, the use of e-government and e-commerce) and socio-economic analysis (such as regional diversity, gender specificity, differences in age, education and the employment situation). The scope of the survey with respect to different technologies is also adapted so as to cover new product groups and means of delivering communication technologies to end-users.

For more details on the methodology applicable in each survey year, please consult the Methodological Manual for the respective year on CIRCABC - Methodological Manual - Information society statistics (europa.eu).

Deviations from standard ICT concepts: No deviations

Households and Individuals

In the ICT usage survey, the target population for the different statistical units is:

- individuals: all individuals aged 16 to 74;

- households: all (private) households with at least one member aged 16 to 74. 

Target population composed of households and/or individuals:

• Number of households: 2 298 566
• Number of individuals:  3 994 531

Non-compulsory age groups also included in the target population:

All the territory of the mainland country was included in the population

Year 2022

Not applicable

Percentages of ‘Households’ and Percentages of ‘Individuals’

The data collection was started at 25 April and finished at 20 May 2022 (module 4 ref. grants agreement) with CAWI (web) as the main data collection method, and CATI was used in follow-up. For those variables referred to the “Last three months before the interview", the reference periods referred to January-March 2022/February-April 2022 (for those whom answered in April/May 2022), and for those "Last twelve months before the interview" variables, the reference periods referred to March/April 2021 to March/April 2022 (March for those answered at April and April for those answered at May). The background variables collected from the administrative sources are based on the last snapshots which are the most recently updated data files i.e. April 2022. Other background variables collected from the survey are based on the current situation of the respondents, e.g. for the G6 'Main activity status (employment situation)', the reference period is the last week before the surveying, hence the reference periods are April/May 2022 for these background variables.

25.04.2022 - 20.05.2022

The legal basis for the 2022 EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals is the Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples (OJ  L 261 I, 14.10.2019, p. 1), as implemented by the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1223 of 27 July 2021 specifying the technical items of the data set, establishing the technical formats for transmission of information and specifying the detailed arrangements and content of the quality reports on the organisation of a sample survey in the use of information and communication technologies domain for reference year 2022 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 2269, 27.07.2021, pp. 1-45).

Complementary national legislation constituting the legal basis for the survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals:  No complementary national legislation

Not applicable.

In addition to European legislation and international Code of Practice, the Statistics Act and the Personal Data Act prevents unauthorised disclosure of data that identify a person or economic entity either directly or indirectly.

Based on these acts and guidelines Statistics Norway has prepared rules and guidelines for treatment of data to prevent unauthorised disclosure of data that identify a person or economic entity directly or indirectly.

The interviewers and all the others who work at Statistics Norway have obligation to maintain secrecy. Statistics Norway will never publish or spread information about what an individual has answered.

To ensure statistical confidentiality and to prevent unauthorised disclosure. Certain rules and guidelines in the data treatment process are applied by Statistics Norway.

The access to the data is controlled by the principle of Need-To-Know.

Personal identifiers such as name or social security numbers are not used. Every observation has a unique identifier, but this is unique only in the dataset and cannot be used to identify the person.

In addition to this Statistics Norway has several methods and tools to preserve confidentiality.

• Suppression – the variables are not published.
• Rounding – values may be rounded.
• Recoding or aggregation – groupings of variables are made larger, may be done with variables such as income and education.

There is a release calendar for the statistical outputs, and it is publicly accessible.

The statistics release calendar can be accessed via Statistics Norway's webpage, ssb.no. The link to the calendar is the following: https://www.ssb.no/en/kommende-publiseringer

The release date for this specific update is also provided on the statistics own page: https://www.ssb.no/en/teknologi-og-innovasjon/informasjons-og-kommunikasjonsteknologi-ikt/statistikk/bruk-av-ikt-i-husholdningene

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously on ssb.no at 8 am on the release date. Prior to the release date, a minimum of three months’ advance notice is given in the statistics release calendar.

Annual

Not available

The main results were published at 19th September 2022 on the statistics main page: https://www.ssb.no/en/teknologi-og-innovasjon/informasjons-og-kommunikasjonsteknologi-ikt/statistikk/bruk-av-ikt-i-husholdningene

In addition, Statistics Norway published a short article (in Norwegian) that focused on the handling of mobile phone when it no longer in use.

https://www.ssb.no/teknologi-og-innovasjon/informasjons-og-kommunikasjonsteknologi-ikt/statistikk/bruk-av-ikt-i-husholdningene/artikler/seks-av-ti-oppbevarer-gamle-mobiltelefoner-hjemme

The aggregated results are available through Statistics Norway's online database: https://www.ssb.no/en/statbank/list/ikthus

Not available

Microdata is available for researchers and others. They must apply to get access, and the criteria can be found here: https://www.ssb.no/en/data-til-forskning/utlan-av-data-til-forskere

Not available

Not available

The main methodological documents used for the survey is the Methodological Manual provided by Eurostat.

All of the requested metadata are completed, i.e. 100 per cent completeness rate.

Not relevant

The national guidelines for quality management (in Statistics Norway) follows the European Code of Practice.

The Methodological Manual provides guidelines and standards for the implementation of the surveys in the Member States. It is updated every year according to the changed contents of the model questionnaires.

The organizational quality assurance is that Statistics Norway shall oversee the monitoring of compliance with the requirements for quality in official statistics and establish a system for following this up. The statistics programme identifies 12 producers of statistics, all of which are involved in the quality assurance work. In consultation with the Committee for Official Statistics, Statistics Norway shall establish a quality system in the first half of 2021 to ensure that work on quality assurance can start in the second half of the year. An initial report on the quality of official statistics shall be submitted to the Ministry in the first half of 2022.

This memo describes a proposal for a quality system for official statistics. The system consists of four general elements:

1. A framework for the quality of official statistics consisting of the Statistics Act and the European Statistics Code of Practice. This is described in Section 3.
2. Methods and tools for measuring the quality of official statistics. Section 4 gives an assessment of established methods and tools, how these can be incorporated into a quality system, and what new methods need to be developed and applied.
3. Systems and processes for following up quality. Section 5 describes how the different elements of the system will interact and how quality can be assessed and followed up consistently.
4. Actors and their roles. Section 6 examines the responsibilities and roles of the different actors in the quality system for official statistics.

The organizational quality assurance applies also to the ICTHH statistics.

For more information, please click on the link to the documentation: System for quality assurance of official statistics

Official statistics of Statistics Norway are produced using a number of statistical methods. Statistics Norway has a department that supports the use of these and in some areas also further develops and researches methods.

• Questionnaire methodology and user testing: Questionnaire methodology includes a number of different methods that are used iteratively. The field of study is based on a number of other academic disciplines such as social anthropology, psychology, linguistics and philosophy. The cognitive perspective on the response process is central to Statistics Norway's work, and can be divided into four iterative phases: interpretation of meaning, retrieval of information required, assessment of information, and the selection of an answer. Statistics Norway's methods for user testing include: expert evaluation, focus groups, cognitive mapping, eye tracking and usability testing.

• Sampling design: A sample survey is conducted when it is too extensive to ask the entire population. Sampling design is the planning of which units are to be included in such a survey. This includes analyzing the population that is the basis for the sample, calculating sample sizes and determining the sampling method.
  
  
• Data integration: Data integration is to combine data from different data sources, with the aim of producing new data sets that are the basis for statistics or research.

• Data editing: Data editing is the control, scrutiny and correction of data. It includes editing of population, editing of obvious and systematic errors, selection of values ​​with large deviations and high influence and control of aggregates to be published. The methods used for data editing range from logical control of valid value range to imputation of values ​​with machine learning.
  
  
• Estimation and weighting: Estimation is to find value for a population figure based on the information Statistics Norway has collected from the (sample) survey. Statistics Norway is usually interested in several figures - totals, averages, proportions and variances are most common - for several variables. Estimation often means that each unit in the sample is assigned a weight, this is almost always done for personal and household surveys. Statistics Norway can also base the estimation on a statistical model, which is common in business surveys.
  
  
• Seasonal adjustment: Seasonal adjustment is to use statistical methods to remove systematic seasonal variations from a monthly or quarterly time series, so that the time series to the greatest possible extent expresses the real development over time. In addition, they try to remove the calendar effects that vary from year to year, such as Easter. When the data has been corrected for the seasonal conditions, one will be left with a clearer picture of the underlying development in the time series which consists of trend / cycle and irregular component.

• Confidentiality: The Statistics Act § 7. Statistical confidentiality in the dissemination of official statistics requires that Statistics Norway does not publish statistics in a manner that allows statistical information to be traced back to individuals or other types of statistical units. Confidentiality can be ensured by using coarser categories, by suppression (hiding values) or by perturbation (changing values). Examples of coarser categories are counties instead of municipalities and age groups of five years instead of single years. Suppression means that some values are not published and are instead replaced by a colon. In addition to the values one wishes to protect via suppression, several other values in the table must be so-called secondary suppressed to prevent the possibility of recalculation from other published values (aggregates). When applying perturbation, the published value may deviate from the real value. Several methods can be used, including rounding and noise addition.

Concerning the quality management, the implementation of ICTHH statistics is conducted using the organizational methods.

For more comprehensive information about overall assessment of the national methodology for quality management, please click on the links below:

Quality work in Statistics Norway

Quality in official statistics

International frameworks for quality in official statistics

The main users are Eurostat, Norwegian government bodies, business and trade associations, research institutes and media are important users.

The government use the data to assess and plan policy on ICT and digitalization.

Data on trends and development in the use of ICT is important for both business and trade association and research institutes and is in the interest of the general public and thus the media.

No information available.

Almost all of the mandatory variables required for transmission and optional variables (with the exception of I_BOTS in question D10 “Did you buy any other services (excluding financial and insurance services) than those mentioned previously via a website or app for private use in the last 3 months?” and HH_POP_16_24S in question G16 “Number of students of the household aged from 16 to 24”) have been included in the microdata

The ratio of the number of data cells (all of the mandatory and optional variables with socio-demographic background information) provided to the number of data cells required is 98.7% approximately.

• The data completeness rate for the mandatory variables (with socio-demographic background information) is 100%, i.e. 134 of 134.
• The data completeness rate for the optional varibles (with socio-demographic background information) is 92% approximately, i.e. 22 of 24.

The accuracy of the data can be affected the random and systematic errors. The survey is based upon a simple random selection sample. As the Norwegian residents are registered in the public system, which means that the gathered information of the sample units, e.g. date of birth, place of birth, gender, marital status, occupation, citizenship, etc. is accurate and high quality. The quality of sample design and size is suitable and taking measurements to minimizes the systematic errors. Regarding to reduce the measurement errors, the national survey is conducted by careful planning, accurate translation (e.g. consulting with the experts from the Methodology division), thoroughly testing the survey and interviewer training. In order to minimize non-response, the NSI has carried several measures to motivate the respondents to participate or complete the survey.

The sampling error reflects the fact that only a particular sample was surveyed rather than the entire population. It is estimated by the standard error and can be expressed by the square root of the estimate of the sampling variance.

The estimation of the sampling variance should ideally take into account the sampling design (e.g. the stratification).

More information on methodology for calculating precision estimates is detailed in the paragraphs below.

Precision estimates for the question "Individuals having ordered goods or services for private use over the internet in the last 12 months" (individuals who ticked 'Within the last 3 months' or 'Between 3 months and a year ago' in question D1 of the 2022 model questionnaire):

Number of respondents (absolute value for ‘Yes’ answers):  1 708

Estimated proportion (in %):  91.09

Standard error (in percentage points):   0.66

Details of the breakdowns are available in Table 13.2.1 in the Excel file “INFOSOC_HHNSI_A_2022_NO” in the Annexes. 

See more details on non-sampling error below.

The Statistical Population Register (SPR) is the central demographic population database at Statistics Norway. The database is frequently updated from the administrative Central Population Register (CPR) several times a month. Updating of the CPR is done in part by the local population registries, which are connected to the Central National Population Register via terminals, and in part by the Directorate of Taxes. In connection with the new National Registry Act, persons over the age of 15 who stay in Norway are obliged to present the following information about themselves and their household: full name, date of birth, deaths, place of birth, gender, marital status, parental responsibility, address, occupation, place of work and citizenship. A non-compliance penalty may be imposed on those who do not comply with these reporting obligations. The reporting obligations ensure that the data gathered from the registers are reliable and accurate.

As everyone in Norway have the 11-digit national identification number which make it very easy to find accurate information about any individual at Directorate of Taxes, Statistical population register and the police station. Which give best quality of data and probability of error is almost zero.

In addition to the checks made by the reliable experts whom managed the registers, Statistics Norway performs checks for statistical population as well.

Not available

Not requested in the ICT survey.

1) Measurement errors:

The respondents may misinterpret the questions and give wrong answers.

2) Questionnaire design and testing:

The questionnaire design follows the Model Questionnaire provided by Eurostat.

The questionnaire Statistics Norway tested before data collection, to make sure that the questionnaire was as comprehensive as possible and to minimize the chance of respondents misinterpreting the questions.

Statistics Norway strives to make the questionnaire as good as possible, to minimize measurement errors

3) Interviewer training:  

The interviewers who do the interviews are employees of Statistics Norway and receive proper training before they conduct interviews.

The interviewers use a computer when conducting the interviews, which minimize the chance for errors.

4) Proxy interview rates: Not applicable

Information about non-respondents:

When comparing the non-respondents to the gross sample, Statistics Norway sees that there are few differences regarding age, sex and region of living.

There is a slightly higher share of males among non-respondents than in the gross sample, but the difference is small.

The unit response rate is the ratio of the number of in-scope respondents (= the number of achieved interviews or the net sample size to the number of eligible elements selected from the sampling frame).

Unit non-response rate for

• Households:   0.6188
• Individuals (aged 16-74):   0.607

Comments, if any: The national survey covering the additional age group between 75-79. Due to the COVID pandemic, the response rate was significantly lower compared with the previous years before the COVID, even the NSI has carried out several measures to increase the response rate

1)  Methods used for dealing with unit non-response: 

To minimize unit non-response, the contact information used to reach the respondents is gathered from the Contact and Reservation Register, which is the public authorities register over e-mail addresses and mobile numbers of the inhabitants. This means that most of the respondents drawn in the final sample will receive an e-mail instead of ordinary letters in addition to receiving a text message to their mobile telephone. These are sent out to the respondents 3-4 days prior to the data collection and involves information about the survey.

The Contact and Reservation Register is also updated in the end of April when the tax returns are submitted. This means that some of the respondents that Statistics Norway did not get in touch with, have updated their contact information when delivering the tax return, and in that case it is more likely for us to get in touch with the respondents.

If a respondent does not fill in the web questionnaire during the first two days of data collection, there will be sent out a reminder (e-mail and/or SMS). After one week of data collection, an interviewer will try to call the respondent with some time intervals (at least one hour break) the following days. If a respondent answers, but states that he or she does not have time or do not want to answer, the respondent is “left out” from the interviewers list the next few weeks. After that, the individual will receive once more an e-mail and a text message about the survey, and that they will be contacted again in the following days. Then the interviewers will start calling the respondent again.

2)  Methods used for minimizing unit non-response:  

Statistics Norway does not use imputation. Statistics Norway calculates weights, that are used for grossing up, both for households and individuals. The base weights are calculated by reciprocal of the households/persons probability of including in the sample. Statistics Norway also does post stratification to adjust the sum of the weights.

3)  Substitution permitted (i.e. another person in the household than the one who was randomly selected can answer the questions): No

4)  Substitution rate (in %): 0

Items with low response rates (observed rates in %): None

There were no issues related to significant processing errors.

There are several checks made in the software suite SAS, for possible errors in the raw data. Amongst other, respondents who did not want to answer the question about whether the households had access to internet at home, are taken out and reported as “Rejected interviews”. Statistics Norway also checks for logical consistency in the answers, and checks for respondents who answer for instance “No” on everything or “Yes” on everything, and who used very little time answering the survey. Respondents who answer in this way are taken out and reported as “Rejected interviews”. There were four respondents that were removed because of this reason.

The Eurostat validation rules will also be used to correct for possible errors in the data. Statistics Norway also calculates the standard errors for several indicators as an accuracy measure.

Not requested for ICT Survey

The data were published on 19 September 2022

No time lag as the data was delivered on time

Not relevant

No problems of comparability between regions of the country

Not relevant

Possible limitations in the use of data for comparisons over time: 

The mode of data collection has been changed in the previous years.

Before 2020 the mode of data collection was telephone interviews (CATI).

In 2020 the main mode of data collection was telephone interviews (CATI), with the option of answering via web-questionnaire (CAWI) for those who wanted.

In 2022 the main mode of data collection was web-questionnaire (CAWI), with follow-up on telephone (CATI).

The length of comparable time series depends on the module and variable considered within each of the modules of the survey.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

All statistics are coherent within the dataset

MANDATORY questions in the Eurostat model questionnaire 2022:

The table 15.4.1 in the annex "INFOSOC_HHNSI_A_2022_NO" lists the questions that do not reflect the coverage of subjects and characteristics of Annex 2 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1898 of the 20 July 2021. 

Adoption of OPTIONAL questions and items in the Eurostat model questionnaire 2022:

The table 15.4.2 in the annex "INFOSOC_HHNSI_A_2022_NO" lists the optional questions from the annual Eurostat model questionnaire 2022 included in the national questionnaire and their coverage for age groups beyond the standard scope. 

Additional questions introduced in the national questionnaire: 

No additional questions have been added to Eurostat questionnaire.

Effects of deviations from the routing used in the Eurostat model questionnaire:  

All statistics are coherent within the dataset

Not relevant

No revisions to report

Not relevant

The source of the raw data is described with more details in the paragraphs below.

Name and short description of the sampling frame or register used: 

The Statistical Population Register (SPR) is the central demographic population database at Statistics Norway and the sample drawn from Statistical Population Register (SPR) of Statistics Norway. The database is updated from the administrative Central Population Register several times a month.

The individuals are randomly selected from SPR – the statistical demographic population database, classified by municipality, family and individual.

The survey is stand-alone survey (from 2020).

Statistics Norway draws a master sample (from SPR) of 5000 individuals where all age groups are represented. For the 2022 survey, the individuals’ age by 31 December 2021 were calculated. Additionally, the persons aged 16-79 are included in the sample. The additional age group 75-79 is included as it has been in previous years, as it is a big demand amongst policymakers and the like, to see how the elderly is included/excluded in the digitalization of the society.

The final sample consists of 5000 individuals drawn from the master sample, stratified by gender and age groups. This is in order to be representative for the Norwegian population.

The survey is voluntary.

There is none known shortcommings. 

Sampling design of survey

The sampling design is a probability design: Yes

 1) Number of sampling stages: One

 2) First stage – Stratification: Age, gender

 3) First stage - Method used to select the sample (for the sampling units): Exhaustive selection, Simple random sampling

Systematic sampling with equal probabilities with stratification effect

4) Number of persons surveyed in the household: one

5) First stage – Unit: Individuals

6) Self-representing primary sampling unit: One

7) Second stage – Unit: Not applicable 

8) Ultimate stage - Unit: Not applicable 

Annual

1) Methods used to gather data: 

CAWI, CATI for the 2022 survey

2) Short description of the survey method: 

The data collection was started at 25 April 2022 with CAWI (web) as the main data collection method, and CATI was used in follow-up. Respondents who did not fill out the web questionnaire during the first week of data collection were called by an interviewer.

There were about 90 interviewers working with the data collection. The data collection was finished at 20 May 2022. Thereafter, the ICTHH-statistics responsible received the finalized microdata-file from the Division for data collection of Social Surveys with the final response rates for the survey.

The shares between CAWI and CATI are 85/15.

3) Variables completed from an external source:

Registry of education: Educational attainment.

National population register: Country of birth, citizenship, municipality (Region of residence and Degree of urbanisation), type of household.

Income registry: The income of the household - after tax.

After receiving the raw data, Statistics Norway uses the software suite SAS to check for potential errors in the data.

Statistics Norway checks for logical fallacies, for instance if a respondent has answered that they did not use the internet the last three months, but answered that they bought/ordered goods online last three months, the last answer is overwritten and corrected.

Respondents who for instance answer the same thing on every question, for instance “No”, are taken out and reported as “Rejected interviews”.

The Eurostat validation rules will also be used to correct for possible errors in the data.

See the points below.

For the target indicator "Individuals having ordered goods or services for private use over the internet in the last 12 months" (individuals who ticked 'Within the last 3 months' or 'Between 3 months and a year ago' in question D1 of the 2022 model questionnaire):

Imputation rate (% of observations): 0

Imputation rate (share of estimate): 0

Methods used to impute item non-response:  None

Grossing up procedures have been applied to: Individuals and/or Households

Description of the weighting procedures:

The base weights are calculated by reciprocal of the households/persons probability of including the unit in the sample.

In addition, Statistics Norway does post stratification to adjust the sum of the weights.

For households, the sum of the weights is adjusted to the following household structure:

1. Single persons
2. 2 adults without children living at home
3. 2 adults with young children (youngest child aged 0-5 years)
4. 2 adults with children (youngest child aged 6-17 years)
5. Single parent with young children (youngest child aged 0-5 years)
6. Single parent with children (youngest child aged 6-17 years)
7. One-family households with adult children (youngest child 18 years and over)
8. Multi-family households without children
9. Multi-family households with young children (youngest child aged 0-5 years)
10. Multi-family households with children (youngest child aged 6-17 years)

The post stratification for individuals is done to adjust the sum of the weights to known population totals for the socio-demographical background characteristics age-group and gender.

The following age-groups are used for the post stratification:

• Age group 1: 16-24
• Age group 2: 25-34
• Age group 3: 35-44
• Age group 4: 45-54
• Age group 5: 55-64
• Age group 6: 65-74
• Age group 7: 75-79 (outside the Eurostat scope of 16-74)

Each of the age groups are also divided into male and female (gender). Meaning that there are 14 strata for individuals, 12 when only looking at the Eurostat scope. 

Not relevant

Not relevant