BARCELONA (AFP) - Nearly all Swedes older than 65 use the mobile technology - way ahead of other European and American pensioners.

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Few French seniors are embracing mobile phones compared to their counterparts in Sweden where nearly all people older than 65 use the technology, while three in four British and US pensioners own handsets.

Only 41 percent of French senior citizens own a handset compared to 91 percent in Sweden, according to the study released at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the industry's biggest trade show.

Around 77 percent of British seniors, 74 percent of Americans and 72 percent of Germans have mobile phones, according to research firm Synovate, which surveyed 2,000 people over 65 in five countries between January and February.

The survey was commissioned by Doro, a British company that makes mobile phones with simpler functions and bigger keys for senior citizens.

There is a big gap in mobile phone use between people older than 75 and younger seniors. Nearly 90 percent of people 65 to 74 years old own a mobile, while only two-thirds of older senior citizens have one.

On average, 56 percent of pensioners pick their mobile phones on their own. Although few in France own one, 73 percent of French seniors choose their own handsets.

French seniors who own mobile phones use their devices more than others: 96 percent of them have taken or made a call in the past two weeks. This compares to 85 percent in the United States, 81 percent in Sweden and 73 percent in Britain and Germany.