Australian Web Use Rising Thanks To News Sites

Surfing is big in Australia — but it’s not limited to the waves.  The online audience there continued to show steady growth in 2008, increasing 3.8 percent from 2007, according to Nielsen.  However, it is clear that the growth has started to slow as that country approaches saturation coverage.  Demographically, audience growth was strongest among those 65 years and older — almost 26 percent.  Females now outnumbered males in the online population (50.19 vs. 49.81) although the average male still uses the Internet more often and for a longer period each time.

Continuing a trend seen in the U.S. and South Africa, the top web sites in terms of average daily unique browser growth were online newspapers: