” “” “How long do European talk on their cellphones every day? How many post offices are there in the EU countries? Do EU citizens prefer to pay cash or by credit card? These are some of the questions that are answered by the "Consumers in Europe" yearbook, published by Eurostat today. It reveals all the "EU stats", with many funny things as well as a picture of the daily preferences of the 500 million Europeans. Within the 27 EU member states, for instance, the number of cellphone subscriptions has risen 14 times from 1996 to 2005, from 7 subscribers per 100 people to the current 96. In thirteen countries, the number of cellphones is even higher than the population: the highest number is in Luxembourg (158 per cent of the population), followed by Lithuania (127), Italy (122) and the Czech Republic 115). Instead, the lowest number of cellphone subscribers is that of Romania (62), Poland (76) and France (77). Conversely, "the number of landlines has only slightly risen" in the last few years, "from 42 landlines per one hundred people in 1996 to the current 48". In addition, in the EU one household out of five has a cellphone only after cancelling the landline. (continued)” “” “
