Madrid, Sep 28 (IANS) Spain is above the European Union average for people who have never used the Internet, a study published on Tuesday revealed.

Data collected by Eurostat for the Instituto de Estudios Economicos (IEE) in Madrid, showed that 19 per cent of Spaniards had never used the Internet, meaning Spain is below

the EU average of 16 per cent of people aged between 16 and 74, Xinhua news agency reported.

The study showed, however, that the number of Spanish people who were now connected to Internet had grown sharply from the 50 per cent who had never used the Internet in 2006.

It also showed there were important differences between EU nations with 35 per cent of Bulgarians, 32 per cent of Romanians, and 30 per cent of Greeks never having been online, whereas the same can be said for just two per cent of people in Luxembourg, three per cent in Denmark, or four per cent of Dutch people.

The Internet also has a much higher acceptance among young people, with the study showing that 98 per cent of Spaniards aged between 16 and 29 had Internet access, while just 51 per cent of those aged between 55 and 74 were Internet users.