Information and learning activities engaged in every day or almost every day, by country (Base: All children 10–16)

This EU Kids Online 2026 comparative study dataset maps the proportion of European young people who engage in daily or near-daily digital activities related to learning, information seeking, civic participation and health-related queries. Across Europe, functional and educational internet use is a key part of daily digital engagement: 38% of young people use the internet daily for schoolwork, and 28% use it for self-directed learning or skill practice. Furthermore, almost a quarter of European children (22%) access world news online daily. However, there are stark cross-national disparities in the integration of schoolwork: daily internet use for schoolwork ranges from 76% in Belgium and 63% in Norway to just 18% in Finland. These differences reflect fundamental variations in national education systems and digital homework policies rather than digital literacy alone. Higher levels of informal learning and active news-seeking are concentrated in southern and eastern European countries such as Malta (39% informal learning), Romania (39%), Portugal (37%) and Poland (34% news-seeking). Conversely, daily online civic engagement and public expression remain marginal across all member states. On average, only 5% of young people participate in public online discussions daily, ranging from 1% in Switzerland to 9% in Portugal, and just 3% participate in online campaigns or petitions. Seeking sensitive health information online is also a specialised activity: 10% search for physical health information daily, and 8% search for mental health guidance—though this rises to 14–19% in southern European countries such as Malta and Portugal.