Along with the development of internet ecosystem in Turkey, statistics associated with the internet has begun to compile. Research on the use of household information technology is made since 2004, and this research is intended to provide information about households and individuals owned information and communication technologies and their use. According to the survey on household information technology, the rate of use of the İnternet in Turkey is a total of 61.2%. When we look at gender, the rate of internet use in males is 70.5%, while it is 51.9% in females.
Turkey is a country with a young population in which is reflected in the use of the internet. According to the age group, the group between the ages of 16-44 uses the internet in a more intense way. 55-74 age group using the Internet is lower than others. Internet usage rate of aged 16-24 is 84,3%. In age group 25-34, this rate is 78.8% while between 35-44 age group, it is 65,4%. Internet utilization rate of the population between the ages of 45-54 exceeds 40%. Internet use by people aged 55-64 is 21% and Internet use by people aged 65-74 is 8.8%.
In Turkey, most social media web, watching videos, reading the news and are used for informational purposes. In addition, individuals use the Internet for e-mail, telephone or video calls. It is also among the personal use purposes for the sale of goods and services, internet banking and travel services.
E-commerce market in Turkey in parallel with the increase in the number of Internet users is growing very fast in recent years. According to BKM data, the total transaction volume shows a rapidly increasing trend in card payments made from the internet, which is considered as an important indicator for the growth of e-commerce. Internet payments from 2012 to 2015 has increased by more than 50% to 55.2 billion TL. Assuming that GDP is 1 trillion 953 billion 561 million TL in current prices in 2015, payments made from the internet contribute 2.56% to GDP. In year 2016 at the third quarter 50.5 billion TL payment made from the internet are observed to grow further (Graph 1).
Graph 1. Transaction Amount of Card Payments Made From the Internet, (Billion TL), 2016.
* Excluding data 2016 4th quarter
Both domestic and foreign cards are used for card payment transactions made from the Internet. However, it is common to use domestic cards in payment processing. E-banking is an important element of e-commerce and e-trade and supports it. Dissemination of e-banking operations will support the development of e-commerce.