TOKYO >> More Japanese people in their 40s used the internet than watched TV last year, according to a government survey about media usage.

In November, 1,500 people, ages 13 to 69, were surveyed about how long they used various forms of media.

Among respondents in their 40s, 83.5 percent said they used the internet on work or school days, up 5.1 percentage points from 2016. Eighty-three percent said they watched TV, down 3.4 percentage points. It was the first time internet usage surpassed TV viewing in this age group.

On their days off, 84.4 percent of respondents in their 40s used the internet, up 3.6 percentage points, while 83.8 percent watched television, down 2.5 percentage points.

Among younger respondents — those in their teens to their 30s — the proportion of people who used the internet exceeded those who watched television by at least 10 percentage points on any day. Meanwhile, older respondents in their 50s to 60s tended to watch television more.

The survey showed people used the internet for an average of 100.4 minutes on work or school days, exceeding the 100-minute mark for the first time, the bulk of which was devoted to email.

When asked about which media they trusted, 68.7 percent supported newspapers, followed by TV at 63.6 percent, the internet at 30.8 percent, and magazines at 19.1 percent.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry’s Institute for Information and Communications Policy has surveyed the public’s use of media since 2012, in cooperation with the University of Tokyo.