Growing number of Kiwi women surf the net

New figures show Kiwi women are surfing the net in their thousands.

Nielsen//NetRatings data from May this year show that in New Zealand, women made up 46 per cent of the internet population.

Among Asia-Pacific countries, New Zealand women web surfers were second in number only to Australia, on 48 per cent.

Other countries in the region with high women users were South Korea (45 per cent), Hong Kong (44 per cent) and Singapore (42 per cent).

In New Zealand, the number of women who actively use the internet each month has increased approximately 10 per cent since the start of the year, to approximately 450,900 for May.

In the US, women surfers have overtaken men in number. The survey shows US women account for 52 per cent of the total at-home web population.

Women in the Asia-Pacific region spread their surfing over a longer period of time during the day, with over 50 per cent active between the prime time hours from 4pm to 10pm

By comparison, men's surfing times peak later at night with more than 70 per cent of male surfers active in each hour between 8pm and 10pm.

This trend is mirrored in New Zealand, with more than 50 per cent of women active online between the hours of 4pm and 8pm. Kiwi males' peak surfing time is focused on 8pm and 10pm with over 65 percent of male surfers active in each hour.