NTIA Data: Two-thirds of US Internet Users Do Not Participate in the Sharing Economy

In our most recent Internet Use Survey, conducted in 2017, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration included questions about participation in the sharing economy for the first time. The results show that a third of Internet users in the US reported selling goods or requesting or offering services from others through online platforms. This compares with the significant majority of Internet users – 69 percent – who reported using the Internet for more traditional e-commerce activities such as online shopping or travel reservations. Sharing economy participants tend to be younger, have higher incomes and education levels, and live in metropolitan areas, our data reveal. Internet users were also much more likely to request sharing, or peer-to-peer, services than provide their own services or sell goods. While 26 percent reported requesting services, only 6 percent of Internet users offered their own services and 11 percent reported selling their own goods online. The median age of a sharing economy participant was 42 years old, versus 52 years for an Internet user who did not use these services. In addition, an Internet user with a yearly family income of $100,000 or more was more than twice as likely to offer or request services than someone with an income below $25,000.