Nearly one mobile phone subscription per inhabitant in the EU27 in 2005
The number of mobile telephone subscriptions has increased almost fourteen times between 1996 and 2005 in the EU27, from 7 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 1996 to 96 in 2005. In 2005, thirteen Member States had more than 100 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Luxembourg (158), Lithuania (127), Italy (122), the Czech Republic (115) and Portugal (111) registered the highest ratios and Romania (62), Poland (76), France (77) and Bulgaria (80) the lowest.
In contrast, the number of fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in the EU27 has only increased slightly in this period, from 43 lines per 100 inhabitants in 1996 to 48 in 2005. The pattern in the Member States varies: the number of fixed telephone lines has fallen in twelve Member States, while it increased in fourteen and remained stable in one. The Member States with the highest number of fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in 2005 were Germany (67), Denmark (61), France and Sweden (both 58), and the lowest were Romania (20), Slovakia (22), Lithuania (23), the Czech Republic and Poland (both 31).
Nearly 20% of households in the EU25 had a mobile phone but no fixed line in 2006
In the EU25 in 2006, 18% of households had mobile phone access, but no fixed telephone access. The proportion varied largely among the Member States: it was less than 10% in Sweden (0%), Malta (3%), the Netherlands (4%) and Luxembourg (8%), and 40% or more in Lithuania (48%), Finland (47%), the Czech Republic (42%) and Latvia (40%).
The average use of mobile phones also varied considerably between Member States in 2004, ranging from 1.2 minutes per subscriber per day in Poland, 1.3 minutes in Luxembourg and 1.6 minutes in Germany to 6.0 minutes in Cyprus, 5.3 minutes in Finland and 4.2 minutes in France.
Between 700 and 13 000 inhabitants per post office within the EU
The availability of permanent post offices varied greatly among the Member States. In 2005, the highest density was observed in Cyprus (700 inhabitants per permanent post office), Latvia and Estonia (both 2 400) and Bulgaria (2 500). Spain (13 000) recorded the lowest density, followed by Malta (7 900), Belgium (7 400) and Germany (6 500).
Concerning post boxes, Sweden (3.3 post boxes per 1 000 inhabitants), Estonia (2.8), Luxembourg and Austria (both 2.5) registered the highest level of availability in 2005 and Romania (0.6), Bulgaria (0.7) and Spain (0.8) the lowest.
The price of postage for a standard national letter was highest in 2006 in Finland (€0.70), Denmark (€0.64) and Italy (€0.60), and lowest in Malta (€0.16), Slovenia (€0.20) and Bulgaria (€0.23). The price for a standard letter to an international destination within the EU was highest in Sweden (€1.19), Denmark (€0.97) and Hungary (€0.77), and lowest in the Czech Republic (€0.34), Malta (€0.37) and Bulgaria (€0.41).
Highest preference to pay cash in Greece, Poland and Cyprus
In the EU25 in 2005, 49% of respondents preferred to pay cash when making a purchase of at least 100 euro, 36% preferred to pay by credit card, 7% by cheque and 5% by bank- or postal transfer. Greece (95%), Poland (75%) and Cyprus (70%) had the highest preferences for paying cash. Paying by credit cards was most preferred in Sweden (62%), the Netherlands (61%) and Luxembourg (59%). Only in France (35%), Malta and the United Kingdom (both 13%) and Ireland (11%) did more than 10% of respondents prefer to pay by cheque. There was a relatively high percentage who preferred to pay by bank- or postal transfers in Austria (29%) and the Netherlands (23%).
Among the Member States for which data are available, Spain (125) had the highest number of Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) per 100 000 inhabitants, followed by Portugal (107) and Slovenia (74). The lowest numbers of ATMs per 100 000 inhabitants were found in Poland and Romania (both 20) and the Czech Republic (23).
