Instead they worry about having their credit card abused, even though the risk is minimal. The growth in the number of buyers at the European level is very much linked to the fact that e-commerce has now spread from the smaller Nordic countries to the large Northern and Central European economies. Germany and the UK have experienced tremendous growth rates in terms of Internet buying during 1999 and currently account for more than half of all European Internet buyers. IDC's findings are applicable to Europe as a whole, but some countries remain further ahead in Internet usage than others. Internet use ranges from 58 percent in Sweden, the most advanced country, to 16 percent in France, the European Internet laggard.
Countries also differ in terms of Internet buying.
As many as 11 percent of the British adult population age 15 and over said they have made an online purchase in the three months prior to the survey, while only 1-2 percent had done so in Spain. IDC's findings were based on a Fall 1999 survey of 10,600 households in the 12 largest European Internet markets. Copyright 2001 INT Media Group, Incorporated All Rights Reserved.