MANILA - Almost half of adult Filipinos use the internet, according to the Social Weather Stations’ latest survey.

SWS reported that based on its fourth quarter survey last year or before the COVID-19 pandemic, 45 percent of adult Filipinos use the internet.

Internet use was highest in Metro Manila, with 65 percent of adults using it regularly. The rest of Luzon followed with 50 percent, followed by the Visayas at 39 percent. Internet use however fell in Mindanao to 32 percent in December from 42 percent in September.

The survey firm noted that internet use has been on the rise since 2006, when only 8 percent of Filipino adults used the internet.

The survey also found out that almost 98 percent of Filipino internet users or around 29.4 million individuals have a Facebook account.

YouTube was the second most popular social media platform with 18 percent (est. 12.1 million individuals), followed by Instagram with 6 percent (est. 3.8 million individuals), Snapchat with 4 percent (est. 2.4 million individuals), Twitter with 3 percent (est. 2.3 million individuals), and Viber with 2 percent (est. 1.2 million individuals).

An earlier survey by SWS found out that 24 percent of adult Filipinos read the news daily on Facebook.

However, when it comes to news consumption, television was still king. The study showed that 69 percent of adults, or around 45.8 million individuals get their news daily through TV. Radio was at 19 percent, and newspapers at 1 percent.

In terms of device ownership, cellphones are at the top. SWS said that 83 percent of Filipino households own at least one cellular phone, 79 percent own a television, 31 percent own a radio, and 14 percent own a personal computer.