Chinese and Saudis lead way in Internet use

People in China and the Middle East are the busiest and most enthusiastic Internet users, a study of the world's online habits has revealed.

The Chinese are also among the most receptive to brands and advertisers communicating with them on social networking sites, underlining the substantial and still largely untapped opportunity for online marketers in Asia. The survey shows how emerging markets are overtaking western Europe and North America in social networking and reveal sharp regional differences in patterns of behavior.

TNS ranked the online populations it sees as the most highly engaged in the Internet through the time spent using it and people's attitudes to the technology. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and China topped the list, with about 55 per cent "highly engaged". Turkey, the third-largest nation represented on Facebook, was the only European country to appear in the TNS top 10. Advertising agencies have seen rapid growth in marketing expenditure by clients in China and Brazil, as well as in digital channels.