Tiago Bianchi
Research expert covering internet & gaming in Latin America and Spain
Internet usage in Puerto Rico - Statistics & Facts
Despite facing important infrastructure challenges, particularly after being hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017 as well as other natural disasters in recent years, Puerto Rico had almost three-quarters of its more than three million inhabitants connected to the internet in 2019. This placed Puerto Ricans among the largest online populations in the Caribbean, though compared to the different U.S. states, the unincorporated territory still registered one of the highest proportions of households without internet subscriptions.
Boricua youth: shaping tomorrow's internet
When it comes to internet consumption, Puerto Ricans are increasingly looking to break free from the limitations of fixed connections, causing mobile lines to account for over 80 percent of the island's broadband internet subscriptions by the end of 2019. With a strong reach among millennials and growing accessibility among Gen-Zers, online users in Puerto Rico are not only craving greater flexibility, but also more entertaining and interactive experiences. One example of this is the substantial use of streaming platforms by young adults, in particular Netflix, which according to a 2020 survey was used by more than eight out of ten respondents from both of the aforementioned generational groups. Another online activity that has captivated both young and old in Puerto Rico is social networking. That same year, despite the ever-growing range of available platforms, Facebook continued to be the most visited social media site by Boricuas as a whole.COVID-19’s push to online shopping
Amid the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping took a pivotal role in providing Latin American and Caribbean consumers with food and supplies. According to a study conducted among e-commerce shoppers in various markets in the region, Puerto Rico recorded the second highest percentage of buyers who increased online purchases during the sanitary crisis, only surpassed by Chilean consumers. For many Puerto Ricans, this was the occasion to get started with internet shopping. Of first-time online grocery shoppers on the Caribbean island, over half were 45 years old or older, a segment of the population mostly used until that year to personally buying their groceries in supermarkets and local stores.
