• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 5, 2002

Female Surfers Surge Ahead

According to Nielsen NetRatings report for the month of December, the number of female Internet users at home grew faster then the overall Internet population, increasing 9% more than in December a year ago. The total Internet grew only at a 6% rate year-over-year.

Women now account for 52 percent of home Internet users, or 55 million people, up from 50.4 million last year. There are 49.8 million male home users, up from 48.2 million in December 2000.

Internet Population by Gender (millions of unique visitors)

	December, 2000	December, 2001	% Growth
Female	50.4	55.0	9%
Male	48.2	49.8	3
Active Universe	98.6	104.8	6

Source: Nielsen NetRatings, December, 2001

Men spend longer online, however, according to Dawn Brozak, senior Internet analyst, NetRatings. "(Men) logged on more often, and accessed more content than women." In December 2001, men spent 24 percent more time using the Internet than women did. On average, men spent 11 hours online in the month, up 17 percent from last year, whereas women were online for an average of nine hours, up 18 percent.

Find out more in this pdf file.