MANILA - Young and educated Filipinos spend the most time on the Internet, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll revealed Tuesday, as the number of online users in the Philippines has grown over the years.

The March 28 to 31 survey found that nearly half or 46 percent of adult Filipinos used the internet in the first quarter of 2019.

SWS said the figure is similar to the record-high 47 percent logged in a same poll in the last quarter of 2018 given the survey's sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

• Almost half of adult Filipinos use the internet: SWS

The March 2019 survey showed that young people aged 18-24 dominated the Internet, representing 86 percent. It was followed by those aged 25-34 with 71 percent, 35-44 with 55 percent, 44-54 with 30 percent, and 55 and above with 14 percent.

Meanwhile, online use was also high among college graduates, reaching at 79 percent. It was followed by high school graduates with 58 percent, elementary graduates with 33 percent, and non-elementary graduates with 11 percent.

Across geographic areas, Metro Manila had the most number of internet users with 64 percent. It was followed by Balance Luzon with 48 percent, Mindanao with 39 percent, and Visayas with 34 percent.

Results from the survey also showed that the number of Filipino women using the Internet is higher with 50 percent compared to 41 percent for Filipino men.

• Filipinos still world's top social media user - study

The nationwide survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults ages 18 and older.

The pollster surveyed 360 adults each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

It had sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.