South Korea ranked first in terms of household Internet penetration among member nations of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report showed Tuesday.

As of the end of 2007, 94 percent of South Korean households had Internet access, taking first place in the list of 31 OECD member nations, according to the report released at the OECD Ministerial Meeting that opened Tuesday.

The Internet penetration rate for the Paris-based club of rich countries averaged 58 percent.

Following South Korea, Iceland and the Netherlands ranked second and third with 84 percent and 83 percent, respectively. Japan and the United States placed 15th and 16th.

Among the countries that posted the fastest growth in Internet penetration between 2000 and 2007 were Germany, South Korea, Britain and Switzerland.

South Korea ranked second in the rate of music and game downloads from the Internet with 44 percent, followed by the Netherlands with 45 percent.