Only half of Romanians had used a computer in 2011, the lowest ratio in the European Union, according to a recent Eurostat survey. The average in the EU was 78 percent of those aged 16 to 74, who have ever used a computer. Sweden ranked first, with a computer use ratio of 96 percent, while The Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg came second, at par with 94 percent.

Bulgaria and Greece were close to Romania, with computer use ratios of 55 percent and 59 percent respectively. However, in most EU states, the share of young people who had used a computer was above 95 percent. Romania was below this average, with 81 percent of 16 to 24 year old having used a computer.

Romania, which is know for its computer programmers abroad, had a small ratio of computing graduates in 2009, with 0.9 percent of all tertiary graduates, below 5 percent in Spain, 5.6 percent in Malta and Austria, and the 8.1 percent in the former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia.

Computer skills varied considerably between the 16 to 74 years old group and the 16 to 24 years old one. The biggest difference is in the number of people who have ever copied or moved a file or a folder, one of the easiest tasks. Only 38 percent of Romanians aged 16 to 74 had ever done that, while the ratio for 16 to 24 was 72 percent.

The usage of arithmetic formulas in spreadsheets was even less spread: only 20 percent of 16 to 74 year olds have ever done that, as opposed to 46 percent of those 16 to 24 year old. Romanians are not good with creating electronic presentations either. Only 8 percent of them created an electronic presentation, while youngsters were a bit more knowledgeable in this area: with a ratio of 18 percent, much below the EU average, of 31 and 59 percent respectively.

Computer programming, the top skill, was an activity for only 6 percent of 16 to 74 year old Romanians, with the ratio slightly higher for the 16 to 24 age group: 16 percent. The average European was not very masterful at computer programming either. Only 10 percent of those 16 to 74 have ever done computer programming, while the ratio doubled for the 16 to 24 age group.

The full Eurostat report here.

editor@romania-insider.com