The amount of computers in Bermuda?s homes has more than tripled since 1993, according to the most recent statistics.

The Household Expenditure Survey 2004 stated roughly two-thirds of Bermuda?s homes now have a computer.

In 2004, more than half of all households or 57 percent, had a desktop computer in their homes, but in 1993 it was only 17 percent.

And 23 percent of the homes surveyed in the 2004 HES had at least one laptop, while the number of homes connected to the internet had grown seven percent since 2000 to a total of 57 percent.

?Households that reported having an internet connection in 2004 spent an average of $66 per month for the service,? it said.

And nearly a third of all homes bought clothing, household goods, electronics, books or car parts using their computers in 2004, it said, each of these households spending an average of $1,127 per year online.

Only four percent of local homes did not own a colour television, with the vast majority of the Island?s homes spending an average of $893 on TVs in 2004.

The number of homes with cable television has increased in the last decade, from 65 percent to 75 percent while those homes that owned VCRs or DVDs pay an average of $63 per year in movie rental fees.

The number of landline telephones had decreased as cellular telephones were now owned by 70 percent of all homes surveyed in 2004.

?On average, households paid $97 per month for landline telephone service and $110 for cellular service,? the survey said.

Four wheels good, two wheels bad, could be the mantra of Bermuda?s homes from 1993 to 2004, as car-ownership shot up from 67 percent to 79 percent while the number of motorised cycles dipped from 52 percent to 47 percent.

Fuel consumption for car-owners was $36 per week, representing a 33 percent cost increase since 1993, while cycle owners spent $8 per week on gasoline.

The HES also revealed that the congestion on Bermuda?s roads has increased not only from changes in vehicle preference but also because of an increase in assessment numbers.

?Vehicle licence restrictions in Bermuda limit one private car per household assessment number,? it said. ?Since 1993, the number of dwellings with an assessment number has increased by approximately 2000 units.?

The new assessment numbers derived from the construction of new homes and the conversion of houses into apartments, it said.