In the regions of Denmark and the Netherlands, 90% of the population aged 16 to 64 use banking services at home. The lowest percentages, according to Eurostat’s regional yearbook, were recorded in Bulgaria, Romania and five Italian regions in the south of Italy, writes the Italian press, cited by Rador Radio Romania.

It’s easy to say the Internet. Be it communication on social networks, online shopping or money transfers, only in Italy not everything is the same in all regions and also in Europe. And while technological acceleration is one of the primary goals of NextGeneration EU, which brings with it €7.6 billion for the Digital Europe programme, the starting line is not the same for everyone.

The digital divide

To understand the extent of the digital divide, suffice it to say that in 2022, across the European Union, the percentage of people aged 16 to 74 who had never used the Internet was 7%. This is an average that falls below 1% in three regions, all Swedish: Sydsverige, Stockholm and Småland med öarna.

While the three regions where the percentage of those living without internet access is in double digits are in the south and one is Italian: Kentriki Ellada (Greece; 20.3%), Calabria (Italy; 18.7% ) and Norte (Portugal: 17.8%). %). The gap is even greater when it comes to remittances, a reality that is very clearly depicted in the European map from Eurostat’s 2023 Regional Yearbook.

Almost three-fifths (59.7%) of the European population used the Internet in 2022 to conduct banking transactions. The percentage exceeds 90% in all regions of Denmark and in 9 out of 12 regions of the Netherlands. At the other extreme are Bulgaria and Romania, where less than a quarter of the population use the Internet for banking transactions. An extreme case, given that the two countries have many residents who do not even have a bank account. But it is not necessary to reach extreme cases.

Outside of Bulgaria and Romania, the lowest rates for online banking were recorded in regions with low connectivity or with an older population. And in this case, Italy stands out, the south of which stands out strongly: in 2022, less than a third of the inhabitants of the region of Calabria (26.8%), Campania (30.8%), Basilicata (32%), Apulia (32.9%) and Sicily (33%) used internet banking.

Even in Greece and Portugal, this percentage does not fall below 50%, unlike the percentages in the capitals of Finland and Denmark: Helsinki-Uusimaa (95.9%) and Hovedstaden (95.4%), where remote account access is already something normal

In Italy, the highest figures are recorded in the north, not reaching the average European level: 55.6% in Piedmont, 58.6% in Veneto, 59.7% in Lombardy, the record belongs to the province of Trento with 60.9% Finn from Helsinki never will ask to pay in cash in a supermarket, and an Italian from a village in Calabria, Campania or Sicily. In the countries of Northern Europe, “virtual” banks, which do not have physical branches at all, are making their way.

A trend, not just a number: Between 2019 and 2022, Europe saw a 5.1 percentage point increase in the use of internet banking, but again, when looking at the picture regionally, a palette of colors stands out. Italy is slow, while 84 European regions saw double-digit growth. The first three steps of the pedestal are occupied by Spain, the record holder is Ciudad de Melilla (+39.6%), followed by Region de Murcia and the Balearic Islands.

Online shopping, but not for everyone

Trends in banking operations are also reflected in purchases: if we look at online trade, the map of Southern Europe becomes a little more colorful, but not too much. In 2022, more than two-thirds (68.0%) of the European population said they had bought goods or services online in the last year. Again an average that does not describe the real Europe.

At least four-fifths of residents in 41 European regions have done so, mostly in Denmark, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Sweden, and nine out of ten in the Danish capital Hovedstaden (91.3%). , North Holland (Netherlands; 90.3%) and Prague (Czech Republic; 90.1%). At the other extreme are 56 regions where less than three-fifths of the population use e-commerce, an almost even picture in the eastern and southern regions, where Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal and, more recently, Italy stand out, where another record-setting minus, the region of Calabria is located (31.9%).