Russians turn backs on Internet and head for countryside

May traditionally marks the beginning of summer vacations and the official start of the dacha season in Russia. Given that many Russians continue to access the Internet mainly from work, the number of Internet users in Russia fell 1% in May to 10.1 million. J'son & Partners and SpyLOG estimate the number of dedicated Internet users in May at 3.5 million.

Moscow and the Moscow Region's share of the weekly Internet audience declined from 44.2% in April to 42.3% in May. Other regions continue to capture market share as Internet usage expands throughout the country. In May, Internet penetration in Russia as a whole reached 5.1%. Although this figure is rising, it still lags behind Moscow and St. Petersburg, where penetration in May was 17.5% and 10.1% respectively.

By the end of May, the number of registered domain names in Russia reached almost 175,000. Monthly growth was just under 3%. Moscow's share of registered domain names accounts for 57.4% of total .ru domain names. The number of domain administrators belonging to businesses was 57% at the end of May. Non-residents account for 3% of total .ru domain names.

The information in this article was supplied by J'son & Partners and SpyLOG, who carry out independent research into the Russian Internet market.