Global Internet usage is all about how many people around the world use the Internet. It shows how connected we all are!
Who Uses the Internet?
Main article: List of countries by number of Internet users
Back in 2015, experts thought about 3.2 billion people would be online. That's almost half of everyone on Earth! A lot of these users, about 2 billion, were from developing countries.
By 2021, the number of global internet users grew even more. It reached almost 5 billion people! This means about 53% of the world's population was connected. The internet has made our world feel "flat." This means people can learn about different cultures and ideas without traveling. It's like experiencing other places from your home!
Internet users per 100 people. Source: International Telecommunication Union.
Worldwide Internet users
|
2005 |
2010 |
2017 |
2023 |
| World population (billions) |
6.5 |
6.9 |
7.4 |
8.0 |
| Worldwide |
16% |
30% |
48% |
67% |
| In developing world |
8% |
21% |
41.3% |
60% |
| In developed world |
51% |
67% |
81% |
93% |
|
Internet users by region
| Region |
2005 |
2010 |
2017 |
2023 |
| Africa |
2% |
10% |
21.8% |
37% |
| Americas |
36% |
49% |
65.9% |
87% |
| Arab States |
8% |
26% |
43.7% |
69% |
| Asia and Pacific |
9% |
23% |
43.9% |
66% |
Commonwealth of
Independent States |
10% |
34% |
67.7% |
89% |
| Europe |
46% |
67% |
79.6% |
91% |
|
Internet users in 2015 as a percentage of a country's population. Source: International Telecommunication Union.
|
|
Number of Internet users in 2012. Source: International Telecommunication Union.
|
These maps show how the number of people using the Internet grew from 1990 to 2014.
Number of Internet users in 2011. This map shows the total number of Internet users in a country. It also shows the percentage of people who had internet access in 2011. Source: Information Geographies at the Oxford Internet Institute.
What is Broadband Usage?
Main article: List of sovereign states by number of broadband Internet subscriptions
Broadband means a fast internet connection. It's what most people use today for streaming videos or playing online games.
Worldwide broadband subscriptions
| Users |
2007 |
2010 |
2016 |
2019 |
| World population |
6.6 billion |
6.9 billion |
7.3 billion |
7.75 billion |
| Fixed broadband |
5% |
8% |
11.9% |
14.5% |
| Developing world |
2% |
4% |
8.2% |
11.2% |
| Developed world |
18% |
24% |
30.1% |
33.6% |
| Mobile broadband |
4% |
11% |
49.4% |
83% |
| Developing world |
1% |
4% |
40.9% |
75.2% |
| Developed world |
19% |
43% |
90.3% |
121.7% |
|
|
Broadband subscriptions by region
| Subscription |
Place |
2007 |
2010 |
2014 |
2019 |
| Fixed |
Africa |
0.1% |
0.2% |
0.4% |
0.4% |
| Americas |
11% |
14% |
17% |
22% |
| Arab States |
1% |
2% |
3% |
8.1% |
| Asia and Pacific |
3% |
6% |
8% |
14.4% |
Commonwealth of
Independent States |
2% |
8% |
14% |
19.8% |
| Europe |
18% |
24% |
28% |
31.9% |
| Mobile |
Africa |
0.2% |
2% |
19% |
34% |
| Americas |
6% |
23% |
59% |
104.4% |
| Arab States |
0.8% |
5% |
25% |
67.3% |
| Asia and Pacific |
3% |
7% |
23% |
89% |
Commonwealth of
Independent States |
0.2% |
22% |
49% |
85.4% |
| Europe |
15% |
29% |
64% |
97.4% |
|
Fixed broadband Internet subscriptions in 2012. This shows how many people in a country had a fixed broadband connection. Source: International Telecommunication Union.
|
|
Mobile broadband Internet subscriptions in 2012. This shows how many people in a country had mobile broadband. Source: International Telecommunication Union.
|
Broadband affordability in 2011. This map shows how affordable broadband was in different places. It compares the average yearly income to the cost of a broadband plan. Source: Information Geographies at the Oxford Internet Institute.
Understanding Internet Hosts
Main article: List of sovereign states by number of Internet hosts
Internet hosts are like addresses for devices connected to the internet. They help computers find each other. For a long time, we used something called IPv4 addresses.
However, a survey that counted these IPv4 hosts stopped in 2019. This is because it didn't count newer IPv6 hosts. So, it wasn't giving a full picture anymore.
Source: Internet Systems Consortium.
What is the Web Index?
Main article: Web Index
The Web Index is a special score that shows how much the World Wide Web helps countries grow. It also looks at how it supports human rights around the world.
This index was created by the World Wide Web Foundation. It checks things like how easy it is for everyone to get online. It also looks at how free and open the internet is in a country. The index also considers if there is useful content online and if the internet helps people feel more in control. The last time this index was put together was in 2014, and it covered 86 countries.
Map showing the score of countries included in the Web Index.
What are IPv4 Addresses?
Main articles: Carna botnet and List of countries by IPv4 address allocation
IPv4 addresses are unique numbers that identify devices on the internet. Think of them like phone numbers for computers.
In 2012, some tech-savvy people created something called the Carna Botnet. It was a network of 420,000 devices. They used it to measure how big the internet was. They called it the "Internet Census of 2012."
World map showing how much IPv4 addresses were used. This was observed using
ICMP ping requests. It was part of the Internet Census of 2012 (Carna Botnet), from June to October 2012. Red means high use, and dark blue means low use.
Languages on the Internet
Main article: Languages used on the Internet
People from all over the world use the internet, so it's no surprise that many different languages are used online.
Content languages for websites.
|
|
Percentage of Internet users by language.
|
Internet Rules and Monitoring
Main article: Internet censorship and surveillance by country
In some countries, governments decide what people can see or do online. This is called internet censorship. It means certain websites or information might be blocked. Sometimes, governments also watch what people do online. This is called surveillance.
Internet censorship and surveillance by country (2018).
| A lot of control or watching Quite a bit of control or watching Some control or watching |
Little to no control or watching Not known / No information |
Sources: Freedom on the Net, OpenNet Initiative, Reporters Without Borders.
Main article: Censorship of YouTube
YouTube blocking by country.
| You can use it, and there's a local YouTube version You can use it |
Blocked Was blocked before |
See also
- A4AI: affordability threshold
- Digital rights
- Internet access
- Internet traffic
- List of sovereign states by Internet connection speeds
- List of countries by number of mobile phones in use
- List of social networking services
- Zettabyte Era
