More than a million New Zealand homes used broadband to connect to the internet last year, double the number of three years ago, according to Statistics New Zealand.
While rural homes were less likely to have a broadband connection than those in urban areas, the gap was closing.
In 2009, half of rural homes had broadband, compared with 1 in 5 in 2006, according to the three-yearly Household Use of Information and Communication Technology Survey.
The survey showed that of the total population:
* 80 percent of people used the internet, up from 69 percent in 2006
* 72 percent sent or received emails, up from 62 percent in 2006
* 43 percent made an online purchase, up from 29 percent in 2006
* 37 percent used the internet for social networking.
The survey of 15,000 households also found that:
* Households with internet access that reported experiencing a loss of data, time, or other damage as a result of a virus decreased to 13 percent, from 17 percent in 2006
* in both 2006 and 2009, 2 percent of users reported incidents of internet fraud
* The number of users who received harassing or threatening messages via a mobile phone dropped from 5 percent in 2006 to 3 percent in 2009.
"Despite the growth in connectivity, the network has not seen similar growth in data security and user safety issues," said Statistics NZ business performance manager Gary Dunnet.
In 2009, only 12 percent of New Zealand homes used a dial-up connection. Fifty percent of these cited the cost of broadband as their main reason for remaining on dial-up, the same proportion as in 2006.
