The Portuguese are the ones using Uber and Airbnb the least

On average, 17% of European Union citizens have already booked accommodations via internet. In Portugal, the percentage falls to 6%. The same goes for online reservations of transportation services: the member States average is 8%, while in Portugal it is 2%. These data were revealed this Wednesday by Eurostat, resultant from a survey about the use of technology in European households in 2017.

Putting Portugal in perspective

Websites and apps are the mediators used by European citizens to hire these peer-to-peer services that are part of a collaborative economy. It is the case of Airbnb and Uber, whose platforms mediate a transaction between a client and a services provider. In the European Union, there are more clients using these kind of accommodation platforms than transportation platforms.

When making a comparison between member States, the British citizens are the ones that use both services the most. As for accommodation, one in every three UK citizens had booked an online accommodation in the past 12 months — following the UK are countries like Luxembourg, Ireland, Malta and the Netherlands. On the opposite end sits Portugal, only ahead of Check Republic, Cyprus and Romania.

Use per age group

As for transportation, the British continue to stand well above the European Union average, next to Estonia, Ireland, France and Malta. Portugal also stands at the bottom, only ahead of Cyprus and Romania.

In almost all member States, the percentage of clients that used accommodation websites or apps was higher than the percentage that used those platforms for transportation. This trend was only different in Estonia and Check Republic.

Housing services are mostly used by the age group between 25 and 54 years-old. On the other hand, transportation services are mostly used by young people, between 16 and 24 years-old.