Global Internet usage

Global Internet usage is the number of people who use the Internet worldwide.

As of 2025, an estimated 6 billion people worldwide were using the internet, representing approximately 74 percent of the global population.This figure shows continued growth compared with the previous year's estimate of around 5.8 billion users.^[1] Despite this progress, significant disparities remain with about 2.2 billion people still offline,underscoring persistent digital divides related to economic development, affordability and infrastructure.^[2] Reports on global connectivity emphasize the need for expanded digital infrastructure, affordable services and digital skills training that ensures the expanding internet access benefits a broader range of population worldwide.^[3]

Internet users

As of 2025, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimates that approximately 6 billion people, or 74% of the global population, are using the internet. This reflects a significant increase from 60% in 2020, with an estimated 1.3 billion individuals coming online during that five-year period. Despite this steady growth, a "digital divide" remains, leaving 2.2 billion people offline. The gap is particularly stark in low-income countries, where only 23% of the population uses the internet, compared to 94% in high-income economies. This disparity in "meaningful connectivity" is increasingly defined by differences in connection speed, affordability, and digital skills.^[4]

Worldwide Internet users^[7]
	2005	2010	2017	2023
World population (billions)^[8]	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^[7]
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.^[9]

These maps illustrate the growth in the percentage of individuals using the Internet from 1990 to 2014.^[10]

Global internet access graph, 2000–2018

Broadband usage

Worldwide broadband subscriptions^[12]
Users	2007	2010	2016	2019^[13]
World population^[14]	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^[15]
Subscription	Place	2007	2010	2014	2019^[16]
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
as a percentage of a country's population
Source: International Telecommunication Union.^[17]

Internet hosts

The Internet Systems Consortium provides account for the number of the worldwide number of IPv4 hosts (see below). In 2019 this internet domain survey was discontinued as it does not account of IPv6 hosts, and therefore might be misleading.^[20]

Web index

The Web index is a composite statistic designed and produced by the World Wide Web Foundation. It provides a multi-dimensional measure of the World Wide Web's contribution to development and human rights globally. It covers 86 countries as of 2014, the latest year for which the index has been compiled.^[22]^[23] It incorporates indicators that assess the areas of universal access, freedom and openness, relevant content, and empowerment, which indicate economic, social, and political impacts of the Web.

IPv4 addresses

The Carna Botnet was a botnet of 420,000 devices created by hackers to measure the extent of the Internet in what the creators called the "Internet Census of 2012".^[24]^[25]

Languages

**Percentage of Internet users by language**^[28]

Censorship and surveillance

References

^ "Statistics". www.itu.int. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
^ "Press Release". ITU. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
^ "Press Release". ITU. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
^ "Facts and Figures 2025". www.itu.int. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
^ "Individuals using the Internet 2005 to 2014" Archived 2015-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, Key ICT indicators for developed and developing countries and the world (totals and penetration rates), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieve 25 May 2015.
^ "Internet users per 100 inhabitants 1997 to 2007", ICT Data and Statistics (IDS), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 25 May 2015. Archived May 17, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b "Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2023". Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 2024-06-14.
^ "Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050"". International Programs Center for Demographic and Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2017-04-17. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
^ ^a ^b "Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2012" Archived 2014-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013
^ "World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database". United Nations. Archived from the original on 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
^ "Internet Population and Penetration 2011" Archived 2014-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, Information Geographies at the Oxford Internet Institute.
^ "Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2019". Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 2020-02-28.
^ Estimate.
^ "Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050"". International Programs Center for Demographic and Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2017-04-17. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
^ "Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2019". Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 2020-02-28.
^ Estimate
^ "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Archived 2019-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
^ "Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Archived 2019-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
^ "Broadband affordability" Archived 2014-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, Information Geographies at the Oxford Internet Institute.
^ Reid, Brian (26 August 2019). "ISC terminates long-running IPv4 Domain Survey, looks towards IPv6". www.isc.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
^ "Internet host count history" Archived 2012-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, Internet Systems Consortium. Retrieved September 2011
^ "Web Index 2014 data". World Wide Web Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
^ "Web Index – taking a break in 2015". World Wide Web Foundation. 24 November 2014. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
^ Stöcker, Christian; Horchert, Judith (2013-03-22). "Mapping the Internet: A Hacker's Secret Internet Census". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
^ Kleinman, Alexis (2013-03-22). "The Most Detailed, GIF-Based Map of the Internet Was Made By Hacking 420,000 Computers". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
^ "Internet Census 2012: Port scanning /0 using insecure embedded devices" Archived 2015-10-13 at the Wayback Machine, Carna Botnet, 2012
^ "Usage of content languages for websites". W3Techs.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
^ "Number of Internet Users by Language" Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, Internet World Stats, Miniwatts Marketing Group, 31 May 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2012
^ "Freedom on the Net 2018" (PDF). Freedom House. November 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
^ OpenNet Initiative "Summarized global Internet filtering data spreadsheet" Archived 2012-01-10 at the Wayback Machine, 8 November 2011 and "Country Profiles" Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, the OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa
^ Due to legal concerns the OpenNet Initiative does not check for filtering of child pornography and because their classifications focus on technical filtering, they do not include other types of censorship.
^ "Internet Enemies" Archived 2014-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, Enemies of the Internet 2014: Entities at the heart of censorship and surveillance, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 11 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
^ Internet Enemies Archived 2012-03-23 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012

External links

"ICT Data and Statistics", International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
"Internet charts", Our World in Data.
"40 maps that explain the internet", Timothy B. Lee, Vox Media, 2 June 2014.
"Information Geographies", Oxford Internet Institute.
"Internet Monitor", a research project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University to evaluate, describe, and summarize the means, mechanisms, and extent of Internet access, content controls and activity around the world.

[1] "Statistics". www.itu.int. Retrieved 2026-02-18.

[2] "Press Release". ITU. Retrieved 2026-02-18.

[3] "Press Release". ITU. Retrieved 2026-02-18.

[4] "Facts and Figures 2025". www.itu.int. Retrieved 2026-03-01.

[5] "Individuals using the Internet 2005 to 2014" Archived 2015-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, Key ICT indicators for developed and developing countries and the world (totals and penetration rates), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieve 25 May 2015.

[6] "Internet users per 100 inhabitants 1997 to 2007", ICT Data and Statistics (IDS), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 25 May 2015. Archived May 17, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

[ITCFactsAndFigures-2023-7] "Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2023". Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 2024-06-14.

[WWIU_USCensus-WorldPop1950to2050-2014-8] "Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050"". International Programs Center for Demographic and Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2017-04-17. Retrieved 2020-02-28.

[ITU-IndividualsUsingTheInternet-9] "Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2012" Archived 2014-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013

[10] "World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database". United Nations. Archived from the original on 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2017-09-15.

[InternetPopulation2011-11] "Internet Population and Penetration 2011" Archived 2014-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, Information Geographies at the Oxford Internet Institute.

[WWBS_ITCFactsAndFigures-2014-12] "Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2019". Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 2020-02-28.

[13] Estimate.

[WWBS_USCensus-WorldPop1950to2050-2014-14] "Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050"". International Programs Center for Demographic and Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2017-04-17. Retrieved 2020-02-28.

[IUBR_ITCFactsAndFigures-2014-15] "Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2019". Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 2020-02-28.

[16] Estimate

[FixedBroadbandITUDynamic2012-17] "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Archived 2019-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved 29 June 2013.

[MobleBroadbandITUDynamic2012-18] "Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Archived 2019-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, International Telecommunication Union. Retrieved 29 June 2013.

[BroadbandAffordability2011-19] "Broadband affordability" Archived 2014-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, Information Geographies at the Oxford Internet Institute.

[20] Reid, Brian (26 August 2019). "ISC terminates long-running IPv4 Domain Survey, looks towards IPv6". www.isc.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.

[21] "Internet host count history" Archived 2012-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, Internet Systems Consortium. Retrieved September 2011

[22] "Web Index 2014 data". World Wide Web Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2017.

[23] "Web Index – taking a break in 2015". World Wide Web Foundation. 24 November 2014. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.

[24] Stöcker, Christian; Horchert, Judith (2013-03-22). "Mapping the Internet: A Hacker's Secret Internet Census". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2013-06-08.

[25] Kleinman, Alexis (2013-03-22). "The Most Detailed, GIF-Based Map of the Internet Was Made By Hacking 420,000 Computers". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2013-06-08.

[26] "Internet Census 2012: Port scanning /0 using insecure embedded devices" Archived 2015-10-13 at the Wayback Machine, Carna Botnet, 2012

[UofCLBWApril2013-27] "Usage of content languages for websites". W3Techs.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2013.

[NIUBL-IWS-28] "Number of Internet Users by Language" Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, Internet World Stats, Miniwatts Marketing Group, 31 May 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2012

[FOTN-2018-29] "Freedom on the Net 2018" (PDF). Freedom House. November 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.

[ONISS-Nov2011-30] OpenNet Initiative "Summarized global Internet filtering data spreadsheet" Archived 2012-01-10 at the Wayback Machine, 8 November 2011 and "Country Profiles" Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, the OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa

[ONIChildPornLegal-31] Due to legal concerns the OpenNet Initiative does not check for filtering of child pornography and because their classifications focus on technical filtering, they do not include other types of censorship.

[RWBEnemies2014-32] "Internet Enemies" Archived 2014-03-12 at the Wayback Machine, Enemies of the Internet 2014: Entities at the heart of censorship and surveillance, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 11 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.

[RWBEnemies-33] Internet Enemies Archived 2012-03-23 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012

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v t e Internet in Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

v t e Internet in the Americas
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Falkland Islands French Guiana Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saba Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
North America Central America Caribbean South America

v t e Internet in Asia
Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Palestine Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Timor-Leste (East Timor) Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Taiwan
Dependencies and other territories	British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Hong Kong Macau
Category Asia portal

v t e Internet in Europe
Sovereign states	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria
Dependencies and other entities	Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Svalbard
Other entities	European Union

v t e Internet in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Associated states of New Zealand	Cook Islands Niue
Dependencies and other territories	American Samoa Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna

v t e Lists of countries by mass media rankings
Indices	e-Government ICT Development Index Networked Readiness Index
Internet	Broadband Censorship and surveillance Connection speed Hosts IPv4 addresses Users
Phones	4G LTE penetration Smartphones Mobile banking Mobile numbers Telephone lines
Other	Books published Television stations
List of international rankings Lists by country

v t e Internet censorship and surveillance by country
Africa	Algeria Angola Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Congo DR Congo RO Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mauritania Morocco (Western Sahara) Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Zambia Zimbabwe
Americas	Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Greenland Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Puerto Rico Uruguay Venezuela
Asia	Afghanistan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia China East Timor Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Nepal North Korea Oman Pakistan Palestinian territories Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
Europe	Albania Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany (YouTube video blocking) Georgia Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom
Oceania	Australia Fiji New Zealand Papua New Guinea
Opposition	Academic freedom Artistic freedom Freedom of information Freedom of speech Freedom of the press Freedom of thought Internet freedom Right to sexuality

v t e Censorship and websites
Censorship of	Chinese censorship abroad Facebook File sharing sites GitHub Google iTunes Store The Pirate Bay Roblox Snapchat Telegram in Iran in Russia TikTok in the United States Twitter (X) in Brazil in Nigeria Wikipedia in China in Russia in Turkey in Venezuela YouTube in Germany
Censorship by	AOL Apple Cisco in China Facebook TikTok Twitter (X) Yahoo Google YouTube Microsoft in China Skype in China Myspace
Forms	Age verification system AI alignment Block Content moderation Deplatforming Identity verification service Internet filter Internet police Internet safety Parental controls Real-name system Shadow banning Social Credit System Trust and safety
Websites blocked in	Australia Belgium China list Cuba France Germany Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Ireland Malawi Morocco New Zealand Pakistan Romania Russia list Singapore list South Africa South Korea North Korean websites Switzerland Syria Thailand Tunisia Vietnam United Kingdom web blocking list United States
Laws	Brazilian Congressional Bill No. 2630 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (USA) Digital Services Act (EU) Kids Online Safety Act (USA) Online Safety Act 2023 (UK) Social media age verification laws by country
Opposition	Academic freedom Artistic freedom Freedom of information Freedom of speech Freedom of the press Freedom of thought Internet freedom Right to sexuality

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