People in the Sultanate of Oman are adapting fast to the digital economy, the digital indicators published by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, said.
The preference for Internet banking went up from 38 per cent in 2020 to 53 per cent in 2021, while interaction with government services went from 34 per cent in 2020 to 55 per cent in 2021.
Personal life saw a lot of digitalisation indicated by devices owned and availability of Internet access in households. Internet usage stood at 94 per cent both the years 2020 and 2021.
Computer device ownership stood at 66 per cent, including desktops, laptops and tablets. When it came to smartphones, it was 95 per cent in both years, according to reports.
2021 saw 77 per cent participation in social networks, 38 per cent purchasing or ordering goods or services online, and 72 per cent uploaded content to a website or blog for others to view such as texts, images, videos or music, software or using applications for work, studying/educational purposes, etc.
Smartphones saw an increase of almost 10 per cent from 18 per cent in 2020 to 27 per cent in 2021. Internet usage was 95 per cent in 2020 but was 93 per cent last year.
The use of ICT by individual indicators shows that in 2020, 92 per cent were sending messages via e-mail, WhatsApp, SMS and so on, whereas in 2021, the figure remained at 97 per cent.
According to the Digital Oman 2020 report, Oman has approximately 4.66 million active internet users, 6.24 million mobile connections and 2.8 million social media users. MarketEx and several other home-grown digital marketplace platforms have gained popularity amidst in-country COVID-19 movement restrictions.
