NEW YORK: Just over half of Brazil's online population will be mobile phone internet users by the end of 2013, a new survey from eMarketer has found, and this figure will rise to almost 60% within the next four years if current trends continue.

Driven by strong economic growth, rising incomes and improvements to mobile networks, the report, Brazil Mobile: Smartphones Pave the Way to a Multiscreen Market, also estimated there will be 142.7m mobile phone users in the country this year.

This equates to 71% of the Brazilian population, a modest rise of 2.3% since last year, although at that rate the mobile online population is expected to grow to 58.3% of Brazilians by 2017.

Mobile devices are also closing the gap on PCs for internet access while the frequency of simultaneous TV and internet usage is on the rise.

According to research from IAB Brasil and comScore, conducted in May 2013, 57% of Brazil's internet users 'always' or 'frequently' used their tablet devices to access the internet while simultaneously watching TV.

Similarly, some 58% used smartphones while 64% used their PCs or laptops while watching TV at the same time.

Data sourced from eMarketer; additional content by Warc staff