One in three Europeans has never been online, according to European Commission statistics

One in three people in Europe has never experienced the joys of online banking, Facebook, Twitter and Googling themselves, according to European Commission research.

It's a mark of how much the internet has become part of everyday life that this statistic is as suprising as it is. With mobile broadband now enabling us to be connected anywhere at any time, the idea that people would choose not to shop online or twitter to the world what they're up to right now seems kind of odd. 

However, according to the research, many of those who choose not to get online are the elderly and those without the available funds for internet access. The numbers also represent a shift from last year, when 40 per cent were reported as never having been online.

The report also found that the information technology sector is less affected by the recession than other sectors, and that nations of internet-active people will help underpin economic growth.

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media commented "Europe's digital economy has tremendous potential to generate huge revenues across all sectors, but to turn this advantage into sustainable growth and new jobs, governments must show leadership by adopting coordinated policies that dismantle existing barriers to new services"