How Many People Have Access To The Internet? Internet Statistics 2024
By Sam Nguyen
In this article, we’ll dive deep into the global statistics revealing how many people have access to the internet and the underlying trends.
Key Takeaways – Internet User Statistics 2023
- 5.3 billion of the 8 billion global population are online, representing 65% of humanity.
- Internet usage has seen a seismic 1,355% rise since 2000.
- China stands tall with 1.05 billion netizens, trailed by India’s 836 million and the US’s 311 million.
- Asia shines as a digital powerhouse, housing 2.79 billion surfers or 53.1% of all users.
- North America and Europe lead in connectivity, with 93.4% and 88.4% of their populations online.
- Users dive into the digital realm for 6 hours and 40 minutes daily.
- The gender digital footprint shows 67.4% males and 61.7% females actively online.
- Mobile is king, accounting for 58% of global web traffic.
- Projections hint at 6.54 billion users by 2025.
- Connectivity crown goes to Northern Europe.
- Social media bridges 4.74 billion people globally.
- Traditional tech endures: two-thirds prefer laptops and desktops for browsing.
Global Internet User Statistics
- Internet users through the years:
| Year | Number of Internet Users |
| 2025* | 6.54 billion |
| 2023 | 5.3 billion |
| 2022 | 5.10 billion |
| 2021 | 4.901 billion |
| 2020 | 4.585 billion |
| 2019 | 4.119 billion |
| 2018 | 3.729 billion |
| 2017 | 3.444 billion |
| 2016 | 3.217 billion |
| 2015 | 2.954 billion |
| 2014 | 2.750 billion |
| 2013 | 2.562 billion |
| 2012 | 2.387 billion |
| 2011 | 2.174 billion |
| 2010 | 1.981 billion |
| 2009 | 1.727 billion |
| 2008 | 1.545 billion |
| 2007 | 1.367 billion |
| 2006 | 1.147 billion |
| 2005 | 1.023 billion |
- Population’s Internet usage:
| Year | Share of Global Population Using The Internet |
| 2023 | 65.40% |
| 2022 | 63.10% |
| 2021 | 53.70% |
| 2020 | 52.40% |
| 2019 | 50.80% |
| 2018 | 48.90% |
| 2017 | 46.80% |
| 2016 | 44.60% |
| 2015 | 43% |
| 2014 | 40.70% |
- Preferred browsing tools:
- Google Chrome: Dominates with 62.78% of users.
- Safari: Holds a significant share with 19.3%.
- Website infrastructure:
- WordPress: Powers 43% of all websites, amounting to 810 million.
- Registered Domain Names: 370.7 million exist globally. The top extensions are .com, .net, .org, .co, and .us.
- Digital communication & traffic:
- Emails: An astounding 347.3 billion emails are exchanged daily.
- U.S. Internet Traffic: Every minute, Americans produce a massive 3,138,420 GB.
- U.S. specifics: A significant 93% of American adults are online users.
Internet User Penetration Rate and Usage Statistics
Overview of Internet penetration by region (2023):
- Europe:
- Northern Europe: 97.3%
- Western Europe: 93.5%
- Southern Europe: 88%
- Eastern Europe: 87%
- Americas:
- Northern America: 93%
- Southern America: 78%
- Central America: 72%
- Asia:
- Western Asia: 75%
- Eastern Asia: 74%
- South-Eastern Asia: 73%
- Central Asia: 67%
- Southern Asia: 46%
- Africa:
- Southern Africa: 68%
- Northern Africa: 64%
- Western Africa: 43%
- Eastern Africa: 26%
- Middle Africa: 25%
- Other Regions:
- Oceania: 72%
- Caribbean: 69%
- Global insights:
- The worldwide average for internet penetration hovers at approximately 64.5%.
- A staggering 5.18 billion people globally accessed the internet by April 2023.
- Asia’s digital prowess:
- Asia stands as the digital behemoth with over 2.9 billion internet users.
- East Asia dominates this figure, contributing a significant portion.
- Distinctive leaders & laggards:
- Northern Europe is nearly saturated with a whopping 98% of its inhabitants online.
- On the flip side, North Korea presents a stark contrast, being the only nation with zero internet penetration.
Internet User Demographics
By July 2023, global data indicated a disparity in internet usage between genders. About 62% of women worldwide were active online users, while their male counterparts reported slightly higher at 67%.
For a clearer understanding, here’s a breakdown of internet usage by gender:
| Year | Male | Female |
| 2019 | 55% | 48% |
| 2020 | 62% | 57% |
| 2022 | 69% | 63% |
| 2023 | 67.4% | 61.7% |
Home Broadband Statistics
- Global subscriptions: There’s a colossal presence of fixed broadband with over 1.4 billion subscriptions worldwide.
- Speed metrics:
- Mobile Internet: The average download speed clocks in at 42.07 Mbps, whereas the upload speed averages at 10.33 Mbps.
- Broadband connection: A leap in speed. Downloads soar at an average of 80.12 Mbps, while uploads stand strong at 35.13 Mbps.
- Regional leaders:
- Asia Pacific: Topping the chart, this region leads in fixed broadband subscriptions.
- The Americas & Europe: Taking the subsequent spots, they clinch the second and third positions respectively.
Smartphone Users
- Traffic overview:
- A staggering 58% of website traffic springs from mobile devices.
- A dominant 92% of internet users navigate the web via smartphones.
- User count: 4.32 billion active mobile internet enthusiasts.
- Regional highlights: Africa stands out, contributing a significant 69.13% of its internet traffic via mobile.
- Future Projections: the horizon seems promising with a projection of over 1 billion 5G connections globally by 2025.
- Popular Mobile Engagements:
- Social Media: Takes the lead with 92%.
- Web Browsing: Not far behind at 89%.
- Email Checks: A routine for 87%.
- Messaging Apps: Preferred by 86%.
- Video Streaming: A pastime for 85%.
- Gaming: Engages 84% of users.
Social media statistics
- Platform popularity:
- Facebook stands tall, captivating nearly 2.95 billion global users.
- YouTube, not far behind, plays host to 2.51 billion video aficionados.
- WhatsApp and Instagram share the spotlight, each drawing in 2 billion users.
- WeChat, primarily in the Asian demographic, boasts a user base of 1.3 billion.
- TikTok, the sensation of short videos, claims a billion creators and viewers.
- Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, and Telegram appeal to 931 million, 751 million, and 700 million users respectively, each with unique features and user experiences.
- Yearly user expansion:
- Social media’s reach in 2023 extends to 4.89 billion people, marking an impressive 6.5% growth from 2022.
- Analysts forecast an annual growth rate of 5% from 2023 through 2027, reflecting steady adoption and engagement.
- Regional deep dive: East Asia, a powerhouse in digital trends, accounts for nearly 1.2 billion social media users, making up 14.9% of worldwide users.
- App insights & user behavior:
- TikTok gains accolades as the most frequently downloaded application.
- Facebook users tend to linger, with an average session lasting 10 to 12 minutes.
- Typically, a digital socialite flits across 6.6 platforms on average.
- Evolution of the social realm:
| Year | Number of Social Media Users |
| 2023 | 4.90 billion |
| 2022 | 4.59 billion |
| 2021 | 4.26 billion |
| 2020 | 3.9 billion |
| 2019 | 3.51 billion |
| 2018 | 3.1 billion |
| 2017 | 2.73 billion |
Video statistics
- Platforms:
- YouTube: 1.8 billion monthly visitors.
- Netflix: 150 million monthly viewers.
- Vimeo: 130 million monthly eyeballs.
- DailyMotion: 100 million viewers.
- Hulu: 75 million monthly fans.
- Viewing Habits:
- Globally, 45% dedicate over an hour to online videos daily.
- Among those aged 18-34, 50% prioritize fresh YouTube content.
- For millennials, YouTube isn’t just entertainment. 40% trust its quality, and 60% feel it influences their perspectives.
- Videos play a role in purchasing decisions. Half the users consult product videos before buying.
- Engagement Insights:
- Viewer attention wanes for videos exceeding two minutes.
- However, capturing interest beyond six minutes often ensures full-view commitment.
- Mobile Trends:
- Advertisers recognize mobile’s potential; video ad spending has spiked by 95%.
- YouTube’s mobile traction is evident; over half its views originate there.
- Twitter’s video landscape is predominantly mobile, with 90% views via its app.
Search Statistics
- Market share overview:
- Google: The search giant towers with 92.01% of global search engine dominance.
- Others: The remaining market divides among contenders like Bing and Baidu.
- Mobile arena: Google’s omnipresence is clear; it claims 96.46% of the mobile search market.
- Search volume insights:
- Google processes 3.5 billion searches daily. Annually, this adds up to 1.2 trillion.
- Every ticking second records 40,000 Google searches.
- Evolution of Google’s efficiency: Reflecting on history, Google’s speed has exponentially increased. While in 1999, indexing 50 million web pages took a month, by 2012, this was a mere 60-second task.
- Emerging search technologies:
- Visual searches: Google Lens is not lagging, boasting 8 billion visual searches monthly.
- Voice commands: A new frontier in search, with over 1 billion voice searches occurring monthly.
Ecommerce statistics
- Global Ecommerce overview: Worldwide, 2.64 billion individuals now shop online, which equates to a significant 33.3% of the global population.
- Country-wise user distribution:
- China: Dominating the scene with 1.03 billion online shoppers.
- United States: Houses a substantial 259 million online consumers.
- Brazil: With its growing tech-savvy population, boasts 119 million online shoppers.
- Germany: Shows strong digital adoption with 64 million turning to online shopping.
- Mexico: Observes 60 million of its population shopping online.
- United Kingdom: Not far behind with 53 million people browsing and buying digitally.
- Surge in Ecommerce growth:
| Country | Growth in retail e-commerce |
| Philippines | 24.1% |
| India | 22.3% |
| Australia | 20% |
| Indonesia | 20% |
| Malaysia | 18% |
| Thailand | 16% |
| Mexico | 14.2% |
| Argentina | 14% |
| Vietnam | 12.5% |
| South Korea | 10.6% |
- Revenue analysis:
- China: Despite its massive user base, the revenue per user averages at $634.
- United States: In contrast, records a lucrative average revenue of $1,952 per user.
- Order value by device:
- Desktops: Continue to reign with an average order value of $179.98.
- Tablets: See consumers spending around $87 per order.
- Smartphones: Despite their ubiquity, register a slightly lower average order value of $79.33.
- Key Ecommerce players in the US:
- Amazon: The undisputed leader, accounting for nearly half – 49.1% of all online shopping.
- eBay: Secures its spot with 6.6%.
- Following them are giants like Apple, Walmart, The Home Depot, and Best Buy.
- Pandemic influence: eCommerce saw a notable increase during the 2021 and 2022 holiday seasons, largely due to shifts in consumer behavior triggered by the pandemic.
How Many People Have Access To The Internet: FAQs
As of 2023, approximately 65.4% of the global population had access to the internet.
The precise daily count can vary, but considering the total number of internet users in 2023 stood at 5.3 billion, it’s safe to estimate that billions access the internet daily. Specific daily metrics can fluctuate based on various factors like weekdays vs. weekends or during significant global events.
In 2023, about 65.4% of the global population had access to the internet. Given that the world’s population was around 8.1 billion, this means approximately 2.8 billion people did not have access to the internet.
In terms of regions, Northern Europe led in 2023 with an internet penetration rate of 97.3%. However, if we look at the sheer numbers, Asia, especially East Asia, had the most significant number of internet users.
Internet freedom is evaluated based on factors like unrestricted access, content freedom, and respect for user rights. Organizations like Freedom House produce annual rankings on internet freedom. Historically, countries such as Iceland, Estonia, and Canada have often been at the top of these lists. To get the most current leader in internet freedom, one would need to refer to the latest published reports on the topic.
Wrapping Up
How many people have access to the internet offers a glimpse into our connected world. As technology continues its relentless march, ensuring widespread internet access becomes a universal imperative.
Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.
