Difference between UK and US web surfers revealed

Europeans prefer to use the web to chat and exchange messages while Americans are more likely to log on to shop or just surf.

According to a recent survey by NetValue, the UK is leading the way in Europe with more than 27 per cent of the population, or 6.4 million households connected to the internet, versus three million households or 12.1 per cent of the population in France. Germany comes in second with 7.1 million households, or 20.7 per cent.

But the US remains ahead in terms of internet penetration with 50.5 million households, or 48.7 per cent of the population online.

Users in Europe are more likely to use applications such as internet chat, file transfer, audio and video services and news, than their US cousins. Some 18.1 per cent of Brits use instant messaging to chat with their friends, compared to 16.5 per cent of Americans.

French surfers prefer to use chat rooms with 10.2 per cent of French web users frequenting chat sites, as opposed to 5.4 per cent in the UK and 4.6 per cent in Germany.

At around 11 days a month, British and American men are neck and neck in terms of the frequency of their usage, but American women beat their European cousins by being on the web for 13 days a month, compared with nine days for UK women.

More women in the US use the internet for retail therapy than UK women, but British men are more likely to buy online than their American brothers. Around 78.7 per cent of American women visit ecommerce sites, compared to 63.4 per cent of British women, whereas 74.6 per cent of British men frequent shopping sites, against 66.9 per cent of American males.

But Americans cover more ground on the web firing up 1254 pages a month compared to a mere 657 pages for UK users. But surfers in the UK, France and Germany tend to spend only 16 minutes per session while Americans spend 22 minutes.