1.1. Contact organisation
Statistics Sweden
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Department of Social Statistics and Analysis
Section for Statistics on Living Conditions and Democracy
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication1.5. Contact mail address
Statistics Sweden
Solna strandväg 86
171 54 Solna, Sweden
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication2.1. Metadata last certified
12 December 20242.2. Metadata last posted
12 December 20242.3. Metadata last update
12 December 20243.1. Data description
The EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals is an annual survey conducted since 2002. In Sweden, it has been conducted since 2003.
In 2024, the survey collects data on the access to information and communication technologies (ICT), on the use of the internet, e-government and e-commerce, internet of things, as well as green ICT.
3.1.1. Survey name in national and English languages
National language: Befolkningens it-användning.
English: EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals.
Questionnaire in national language and the translation in English are available in the Annexes below.
Annexes:
Questionnaire in Swedish
Questionnaire in English
3.2. Classification system
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 additional classifications.
3.3. Coverage - sector
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.
3.3.1. Differences in scope at national level
An annual survey conducted in Sweden covers individuals in the age group 16 years or older as well as households having at least one member in the age group 16 years or older.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The survey is collecting data of internet users, individuals who have used the internet 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 internet, e-government, e-commerce, internet of things and green ICT) 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 to cover new product groups and means of delivering communication technologies to end-users.
Deviations from standard ICT concepts: No deviations from standard ICT concepts are observed.
3.5. Statistical unit
Households and Individuals
3.6. Statistical population
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: 3 620 730
- Number of individuals: 7 505 004
3.6.1. Non-compulsory age groups
Non-compulsory age groups also included in the target population:
No | Yes | Age scope | |
---|---|---|---|
Individuals younger than 16? | X | ||
Individuals older than 74? | X | 75 years or older |
3.6.2. Population not covered by the data collection
Non-target population (the difference between the total population and the target population) | Households | Individuals |
---|---|---|
Approximate number of units outside the general scope of the survey (for example individuals younger than 16 or older than 74; households with all members over 74 years old). | 1 122 557 | |
Estimate of the resulting percentage of under-coverage (non-covered population compared to the total country), if applicable |
3.7. Reference area
All the territory of the country.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Year 2024
3.9. Base period
Not applicable
Percentages of ‘Households’ and Percentages of ‘Individuals’
For most questions the reference period is the last three months before the interview. Questions in the modules on e-government and eID refer to the 'last year' before the interview.
Deviation from this statement: No deviations.
5.1. Survey period
In general, data refer to the last three months before the data collection. Fieldwork: 25 March 2024 - 18 June 2024
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The legal basis for the 2024 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 October 2019, p. 1), as implemented by the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1484 of 18 July 2023 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 2024 in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 182, 19 July 2023, pp. 100-149) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1797 of 7 July 2023 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council by specifying the number and titles of the variables for the use of information and communication technologies statistics domain for the reference year 2024 (OJ L 233, 21 September 2023).
Complementary national legislation constituting the legal basis for the survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals: Regulations on processing personal data are contained in the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the Official Statistics Act (2001:99), and the Official Statistics Ordinance (2001:100). The survey is voluntary for participants in Sweden.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Micro data is not shared between agencies in the national statistical system.
Micro data is shared in two ways:
- via transmission to Eurostat
- via service 'Ordering microdata' in Statistics Sweden, where government agencies, researches and other qualified and approved users can access micro data.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The answers that submit are held confidential, and all those who work on the survey are bound by the obligation of professional secrecy. Confidentiality applies under Chapter 24, Section 8 of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400). Regulations on processing personal data are contained in the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the Official Statistics Act (2001:99), and the Official Statistics Ordinance (2001:100). In addition, there are rules in the Act on supplementary provisions to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2018:218) and in regulations issued in association with the Act.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Microdata of ICT usage in households and by individuals do not contain any administrative information such as names or addresses that would allow direct identification. For more details see Statistics Sweden's microdata. External users, e.g. researcher must be approved and only have access to information where personal number is replaced with serial numbers that do not allow to identify individuals.
An estimate is not published if it based on fewer than 20 sample observations or if the non-response for the item concerned exceeds 50%.
8.1. Release calendar
The target date is October of the survey year. The date of the next year's publication is confirmed in the months before.
8.2. Release calendar access
The planned release date is announced some months in advance on the dedicated website for the survey.
8.3. Release policy - user access
The planned publishing date is announced some months in advance of the dedicated website for the survey and the press release is disseminated at the same date.
Annual
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Annual news releases online 18 October 2024 as a press release together with an online tool suitable to extract time series from our statistical databases: Yearly publication on ICT use by individuals 2024
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The annual publication on ICT use in households and by individuals is published in the form of statistical news on ICT usage in households and by individuals 2024, tables and graphs on the website for the survey, as well as tables in the statistical database.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The dissemination data can be accessed free of charge in Statistical database Online database
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Microdata are available for scientific purposes at the Statistics Sweden's microdata.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Facebook's website for Statistics Sweden, Statistics Sweden on Instagram
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not requested
10.6. Documentation on methodology
The Methodological Manual used for the survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals are annually compiled by Eurostat in cooperation with Member States.
There are two methodological documents available in Swedish at Statistics Sweden's web page, on quality: Description of the quality of the statistics and on production: Description of the production of the statistics.
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not available
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Not available
11.1. Quality assurance
The Methodological Manual provides guidelines and standards for implementation of the surveys in the Member States. It is updated every year according to the changed contents of the model questionnaires.
The survey refers to Sweden's official Statistics (SOS) and therefore special rules apply for quality and accessibility, see the Act (2001:99) and the Ordinance (2001:100) on official statistics and Statistic's Sweden's regulations FS 2016:17 on quality for official statistics.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
ICT usage statistics have overall good quality. The surveys are considered as reliable sources applying high standards with regard to the methodology. The survey is based on a sample of the population. The results are therefore subject to the usual types of errors associated with random sampling.
The quality and efficiency are gradually improved through methodological development. Methodological competence is also used to evaluate the official statistics annually. In order to follow out the evaluations, a manual for evaluation support has been produced.
At European level, the recommended use of the annual Eurostat model questionnaire aims at improving comparability of the results among the countries that conduct the survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals. Moreover, the Methodological Manual provides guidelines and clarifications for the implementation of the surveys in the Member States.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Users are considered to be the most important, who make most use of the data and contribute most to identifying/defining the topics to be covered. The main users of the statistics on ICT usage in households and by individuals are:
- Statistical users in Eurostat, European Commission, International Telecommunication Unit
- National administrations e.g. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, National Board of Health and Welfare
- The Ministry of Infrastructure is consulted when deciding which optional and national questions to include in the national questionnaire or if Statistics Sweden believe an issue are of their interest
- Researchers having access to microdata
- End users - including the media - interested in ICT usage in households and by individuals
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
At European level, contacts within the Commission, ITU and other stakeholders give a clear picture about the key users' satisfaction as the following data quality access: accuracy and reliability of results, timeliness, satisfactory accessibility, clarity and comparability over time and between countries, completeness and relevance. Overall users have evaluated positively (good, very good) the data quality on the ICT usage in households and by individuals.
Statistics Sweden keeps record of the number of statistical news releases and publications disseminated on its website; the users to whom statistical products are provided as well as the number of requests that are processed every year.
Statistical news releases and tailor-made statistical outputs are on account of their quality, timeliness, and on their ability to meet users' needs.
12.3. Completeness
All mandatory variables are included in the microdata.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
The rate was assumed to be sufficient enough to meet quality requirements since the overall quality of the microdata was verified automatically at the time of submission.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
This quality component is related to the closeness of computations or estimates to the (unknown) exact or true values. Sampling and non-sampling errors were evaluated to define the sources of uncertainty that are assessed to have greatest significance to the survey. It was considered that sampling error, non-response error, and measurement error have greater impact on data quality. Se more details in the subsections below.
13.2. Sampling error
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 is conducted in line with NSIs current guidelines using a program ETOS (Estimation of Totals and Order Statistics) which was designed to compute point - and standard error estimates of totals and order statistics (parameters) from sample surveys as well as rational functions of these parameters. According to ETOS 2.0 User’s guide (2012) the Estimating Equations (EE) technique was used for estimation of the variance of the order statistics, and the Taylor linearization method was used for the variance estimation of non-linear functions like ratios and products.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
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 in the question “When did you last buy or order goods or services for private use over the internet?”):
Number of respondents (absolute value for ‘Yes’ answers): 4540
Estimated proportion (in %): 89,90
Standard error (in percentage points): 0,562
Details of the breakdowns are available in document in the Annexes below.
13.3. Non-sampling error
See more details on non-sampling error below.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Coverage errors include over-coverage, under-coverage and misclassification:
- Over-coverage: relates either to wrongly classified units that are in fact out of scope, or to units that do not exist in practice. The Total Population Register (TPR) is used as the sampling frame. The over-coverage in TPR mainly consists of delays in reporting deaths and emigration. The people who have left Sweden but are still registered as Swedish residents are difficult to discover but the estimated error is negligible.
- Under-coverage: refers to units not included in the sampling frame. The under-coverage in TPR consists mainly of immigrants (immigrants + returnees) that are added to TPR with a certain lag.
- Misclassification: refers to incorrect classification of units that belong to the target population.
The coverage deficiencies in the TPR are estimated to be small.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Overcoverage rate in the Total Population Register can be considered as insignificant (less than one percent of the TPR-population) and only have a marginal effect on the estimates.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not requested in the ICT survey.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Measurement errors: Measurement errors can be defined as errors that occur at the time of data collection. Some of the most common sources for these errors are the survey instrument (questionnaire design), the information system, and the mode of data collection.
Questionnaire design and testing:
- The ICT usage in households and by individuals 2024 was designed in line with the European Union Survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals 2024 Model Questionnaire. The questionnaire is subject to expert review by survey methodologists which can be considered as a quality indicator but some areas of improvement in questionary design still exist. For example, the 2024 examination of missing pattern in paper responses for D1-D7 indicated some measurement errors that presumably occurred due to questionnaire design. There were respondents who had not answered question D1, if they ordered any goods or services for private use over the internet within the last 3 months or between 3 months and a year ago, while they later provided goods and services that were purchased via a website or app for private use in the last 3 months in questions D2-D7. Possible measurement error was mitigated by imputation of the indicator variable D1 based on the variable answers D2-D7 for those respondents.
- There is probable mode effects. The contact strategy is to encourage responses by web questionnaires, which might cause overestimation of the number of people and households with internet and related estimates. It is however likely to be marginal since internet penetration is very high in Sweden.
Interviewer training: Not applicable.
Proxy interview rates: Not applicable.
13.3.3. Non response error
Information about non-respondents:
Non-response errors are errors due to an unsuccessful attempt to obtain the desired information from an eligible unit. Two main types of non-response errors are considered:
- Unit non-response which refers to the absence of information of the whole units selected into the sample.
- Item non-response refers to the situation where a sample unit has been successfully enumerated, but not all the required information has been obtained.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
The unit non-response rate is the ratio of the number of in-scope non-respondents (= number of rejected interviews) to the number of eligible elements selected from the sampling frame.
Unit non-response rate for
- Households: households are not sampled
- Individuals (aged 16-74): 1 - (4540/14187)=67,99%
13.3.3.1.1. Unit non-response – sample sizes
Number of households | Number of individuals (aged 16-74) |
Number of individuals (< 16) |
Number of individuals (> 74) |
|
Gross sample [A]The number of households/individuals initially selected from the sampling frame (if not applicable, indicate why below the table) | 15760 | 14187 | 1573 | |
Ineligible: out-of-scope [B] For example, when a selected household is not in the target population because all members are over 75 years old or when no dwelling exists at the selected address, or a selected individual has died between the reference data of the sampling frame at the moment of the interview. | 27 | 19 | 8 | |
Number of eligible elements [C]Gross sample size corrected of the ineligible cases | 15733 | 14168 | 1565 | |
Net sample size or final sample [D]The net sample size (or final sample) corresponds to the number of households/individuals that can be used in the final database. | 5280 | 4540 | 740 | |
Unit response rate [E] = [D] / [C]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. | 0.34 | 0.32 | 0.47 |
Comments, if any:
13.3.3.1.2. Unit non-response – methods, minimization and substitution
Methods used for dealing with unit non-response: No imputations were made for unit non-response in this survey.
Methods used for minimizing unit non-response:
- Reducing non-response bias during data collection: The use of the combined data collection was conducted in line with the previous year is supposed to reduce non-response bias.
- Auxiliary information is used in the estimation process to reduce the bias due to non-response. See concept 18.5.3. for more details about weighting procedures.
Substitution permitted: Not applicable
Substitution rate (in %): 0%
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Items with low response rates (observed rates in %): Item non-response rate was evaluated only for the variable occupation where 38% of the responses were manually coded by staff at the agency.
Otherwise, item non-response rate is not formally evaluated since it assumed to be insignificant and only have a marginal effect on the estimates.
13.3.4. Processing error
Errors in recording, checking, coding, and preparing survey data were considered as processing errors.
Data entry errors may arise even though the application used for data scan of paper forms contains verification checks to minimize the incidence of these errors.
The questionnaire used for ICT use in household statistics requires some coding that is performed by the unit's qualified statistician.
Some controlling procedures reducing potential processing errors for some types of missing values, outliers, syntax, logical inconsistencies are integrated in in the data entry process as well as the production.
The risk of processing errors is estimated to be small.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable
14.1. Timeliness
Date of data dissemination at national level: 18 October 2024
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Restricted from publication14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Restricted from publication14.2. Punctuality
The results of the survey were delivered without delay in relation to the scheduled date.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
The results of the survey were published and delivered without delay in relation to the scheduled date.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
There is no problem of comparability across the country’s regions. The survey is harmonized with the EU model questionnaire and the data is comparable between regions according to NUTS2.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not relevant
15.2. Comparability - over time
Possible limitations in the use of data for comparisons over time:
There have been some changes but not enough to warrant the designation of a break in series.
Some changes to the methodology have been made in the last couple of years that might limit the comparability over time.
In 2020, the survey went from a mixed mode with a web administered survey / telephone interviews to mixed mode of web / paper survey. At the same time, the total sample size increased from 2 900 to 7 000 individuals.
In 2021, the calibration vector to include income, education crossed with birth region and region of residence based on degree of urbanization was updated. The former vector had no information on income, education and birth region were separated, and region of residence were based on whether it was in Stockholm, Malmö, or Gothenburg municipally. Furthermore, some further domain variables are now collected from administrative records, namely household size and income.
In 2023, in order to meet the precision requirements for age group 16-74 have Statistics Sweden increased the sample size from 6 298 to 11 277 as well as changed sample size allocation method from proportional (allocates the total sample size among the strata in proportion to stratum sizes) to Neyman (allocates the total sample size among the strata in proportion to stratum sizes and stratum variances.
In 2024, in order to continue meet the precision requirements for age group 16-74 years have Statistics Sweden increased the sample size from 11 277 to 14 205. The purpose of the increasing the sample size was to meet the precision requirements with a greater margin. Additionally, the removal of the upper age limit in the national survey led to a new numbering of strata.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
The length of comparable time series depends on the module and variable considered within each of the modules of the survey.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not applicable
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable
15.4. Coherence - internal
All statistics are coherent within the dataset provided by the country.
15.4.1. Survey questionnaire – mandatory questions
MANDATORY questions in the Eurostat model questionnaire 2024:
Table 15.4.1 Mandatory in the Annexes lists the questions for which the coverage of subjects and characteristics reflected in the national questionnaire differs from Annex 2 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1797 of 7 July 2023.
15.4.2. Survey questionnaire – optional questions
Adoption of OPTIONAL questions and items in the Eurostat model questionnaire 2024:
Table 15.4.2 Optional in the Annexes lists the optional questions from the annual Eurostat model questionnaire 2024 included in the national questionnaire and their coverage for age groups beyond the standard scope.
15.4.3. Survey questionnaire – additional questions at national level
Additional questions introduced in the national questionnaire in 2024: three questions on generative AI-tools
Details of the questions are in document 15.4.3 Additional available in the Annexes below.
15.4.4. Survey questionnaire – deviations
Effects of deviations from the routing used in the Eurostat model questionnaire: No deviations from Eurostat’s routing
17.1. Data revision - policy
Preliminary data is not published and at the Statistics Sweden, there is currently no internal policy governing revisions that occur for all statistics produced.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Any revisions to the data would be described in detail in the methodological sheet accompanying statistical news releases.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not relevant
18.1. Source data
The source of the raw data is described with more details in the paragraphs below.
18.1.1. Sampling frame
The Total Population Register (TPR) which is an extract from the population register at the Tax Authorities and all individuals residing in Sweden at the day that refers to the last day of the first month of the survey year have been used as the sampling frame. Sample frame for EU part of the survey can be defined as an extract of individuals 16-74 years old at the day that refers to the first day of the data collection from TPR mentioned above.
18.1.2. Sampling design
The sampling design for in 2024 was one-stage stratified simple random sampling, where stratification was with respect to sex and age.
There where total 12 stratum in the EU part of the survey: male 16-24 years, male 25-34 years, male 35-44 years, male 45-54 years, male 55-64 years, male 65-74 years, female 16-24 years, female 25-34 years, female 35-44 years, female 45-54 years, female 55-64 years, female 65-74 years.
Sample size for the EU part of the survey: 14 205 individuals was allocated in proportion to stratum sizes and stratum variances of the indicator “ Percentage of individuals who ordered goods or services over the Internet for private use in the last year “.The purpose of this allocation is to increase compliance with the precision requirements .
18.1.3. Net effective sample size
Restricted from publication18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual
18.3. Data collection
Methods used to gather data: The combined data collection was used with a web-based survey and a paper questionnaire, where the target respondent is the individual of a household, and the survey participation was voluntary.
Short description of the survey method: The combined data collection was done as follows: An introduction letter was sent to the all-sampled individual’s home address, in accordance with the Swedish population-register. Information about the survey and instructions on how to submit the answers the web-based questionnaire was included in the introduction letter as well. Two weeks after sending out the introduction letter, a reminder was sent out to the respondents who have yet not answered the survey. After that, three more reminders were sent, which included the same information as the introduction letter as well as a paper questionnaire that can be submitted if the respondent prefers.
Variables completed from an external source: Household size, income, education and birth region are collected from administrative records from The Total Population Register (TPR), The Household register. Industry are collected from Population by Labour market status.
18.4. Data validation
Data are checked for consistency through a cross-checking exercise against different variables within the survey and against the same variables from previous years.
18.5. Data compilation
Check of the coherence between the web questionnaire and the paper questionnaire was carried out by controlling the files after the data entry: coding errors (e.g. municipality codes), data entry errors (e.g. a one digit number instead of a two digit number), data out of possible range or incoherence of data (e.g. the age calculated by the date of birth and the age in years).
Data for some socio-demographic background variables is taken from registers. This is done already in formation of the sample.
Check and deterministic editing of all variables were done in order to correct incoherent values and errors. Validation rules were implemented in SAS programs for all the modules.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Basic adjustment of obvious logical inconsistencies in the responses from paper questionnaire of collection occurs every year for each questionary module including module D - 'Use of e-commerce'.
In 2024 examination of missing pattern in paper responses for D1-D7 indicated some measurements errors that presumably occurred due to the questionnaire design. There were responses where individuals have not mentioned if they ordered any goods or services for private use over the internet within the last 3 months or between 3 months and a year ago in the question D1 while later provided goods and services that were purchased via a website or app for private use in the last 3 months in the questions D2-D7. As a result missing values of the indicator variable D1a were imputed based on the variable answers D2-D7 for those responses.
In 2024, approximately 2 percent of the total number of observations of E1 answers were imputed. The impact on the results is minimal.
18.5.2. Use of imputation methods
Methods used to impute item non-response: Conditional imputation of the values of D1 was conducted based on answers provided for D2-D7 and the assumption regarding the relationships between variables D1 and D2-D7.
18.5.3. Grossing-up procedures
Grossing up procedures have been applied to Individuals and/or Households:
One of the ETOS procedures involving GREG-estimator and aggregated population totals of the auxiliary variables is applied to conduct calibration of weights which are supposed to be helpful to gross up the individuals in the net sample to the population as well as reduce the non-response bias.
The vector of the auxiliary variables that was used in calibration was defined in line with previous year. All the variables in the vector are available for the entire sampling frame and assumed to explain the response propensity, the main study variables, identify the most important domains was chosen.
For more details regarding calibration estimators in survey sampling and the procedures used to derive the calibration weights se Jean-Claude Deville & Carl-Erik Särndal (1992) Calibration Estimators in Survey Sampling, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 87:418, 376-382, DOI: 10.1080/01621459.1992.10475217
Individual calibrated weights were adjusted to household weights.
18.6. Adjustment
Not relevant
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not relevant
No further comments.
The EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals is an annual survey conducted since 2002. In Sweden, it has been conducted since 2003.
In 2024, the survey collects data on the access to information and communication technologies (ICT), on the use of the internet, e-government and e-commerce, internet of things, as well as green ICT.
The survey is collecting data of internet users, individuals who have used the internet 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 internet, e-government, e-commerce, internet of things and green ICT) 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 to cover new product groups and means of delivering communication technologies to end-users.
Deviations from standard ICT concepts: No deviations from standard ICT concepts are observed.
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: 3 620 730
- Number of individuals: 7 505 004
All the territory of the country.
For most questions the reference period is the last three months before the interview. Questions in the modules on e-government and eID refer to the 'last year' before the interview.
Deviation from this statement: No deviations.
This quality component is related to the closeness of computations or estimates to the (unknown) exact or true values. Sampling and non-sampling errors were evaluated to define the sources of uncertainty that are assessed to have greatest significance to the survey. It was considered that sampling error, non-response error, and measurement error have greater impact on data quality. Se more details in the subsections below.
Percentages of ‘Households’ and Percentages of ‘Individuals’
Check of the coherence between the web questionnaire and the paper questionnaire was carried out by controlling the files after the data entry: coding errors (e.g. municipality codes), data entry errors (e.g. a one digit number instead of a two digit number), data out of possible range or incoherence of data (e.g. the age calculated by the date of birth and the age in years).
Data for some socio-demographic background variables is taken from registers. This is done already in formation of the sample.
Check and deterministic editing of all variables were done in order to correct incoherent values and errors. Validation rules were implemented in SAS programs for all the modules.
The source of the raw data is described with more details in the paragraphs below.
Annual
Date of data dissemination at national level: 18 October 2024
There is no problem of comparability across the country’s regions. The survey is harmonized with the EU model questionnaire and the data is comparable between regions according to NUTS2.
Possible limitations in the use of data for comparisons over time:
There have been some changes but not enough to warrant the designation of a break in series.
Some changes to the methodology have been made in the last couple of years that might limit the comparability over time.
In 2020, the survey went from a mixed mode with a web administered survey / telephone interviews to mixed mode of web / paper survey. At the same time, the total sample size increased from 2 900 to 7 000 individuals.
In 2021, the calibration vector to include income, education crossed with birth region and region of residence based on degree of urbanization was updated. The former vector had no information on income, education and birth region were separated, and region of residence were based on whether it was in Stockholm, Malmö, or Gothenburg municipally. Furthermore, some further domain variables are now collected from administrative records, namely household size and income.
In 2023, in order to meet the precision requirements for age group 16-74 have Statistics Sweden increased the sample size from 6 298 to 11 277 as well as changed sample size allocation method from proportional (allocates the total sample size among the strata in proportion to stratum sizes) to Neyman (allocates the total sample size among the strata in proportion to stratum sizes and stratum variances.
In 2024, in order to continue meet the precision requirements for age group 16-74 years have Statistics Sweden increased the sample size from 11 277 to 14 205. The purpose of the increasing the sample size was to meet the precision requirements with a greater margin. Additionally, the removal of the upper age limit in the national survey led to a new numbering of strata.