According to new figures released May 26 by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union, almost half the world’s population will have Internet access by the end of 2015.
The report predicts that 3.2 billion of the world’s 7.2 billion people will be online this year.
That’s big news for nearly every industry in the world. It adds to consumer pools — previous studies have found that around 61% of global Internet users do online product research — but could also have implications for education and knowledge democratization efforts.
Around 2 billion people out of that 3.2 billion will be in the developing world. However, just 89 million will be in countries on the United Nations’ list of “least developed countries,” such as Somalia and Nepal. The combined population of these countries is around 940 million, demonstrating that there are still clear disparities in terms of global Internet access.
But still, Internet user penetration is now seven times what it was in 2000, going from about 6.5% to a full 43%. And in the last 10 years, the number of households with Internet service in the home went from about 18% to about 46%.
According to new figures released May 26 by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union, almost half the world’s population will have Internet access by the end of 2015.
The report predicts that 3.2 billion of the world’s 7.2 billion people will be online this year.
That’s big news for nearly every industry in the world. It adds to consumer pools — previous studies have found that around 61% of global Internet users do online product research — but could also have implications for education and knowledge democratization efforts.
Around 2 billion people out of that 3.2 billion will be in the developing world. However, just 89 million will be in countries on the United Nations’ list of “least developed countries,” such as Somalia and Nepal. The combined population of these countries is around 940 million, demonstrating that there are still clear disparities in terms of global Internet access.
But still, Internet user penetration is now seven times what it was in 2000, going from about 6.5% to a full 43%. And in the last 10 years, the number of households with Internet service in the home went from about 18% to about 46%.
Mobile Internet
Web-enabled mobile devices, of course, have played a major role in expanding global Internet access.
Mobile broadband is the “most dynamic market segment,” according to the new report, and mobile-broadband penetration will reach 47% in 2015. That figure has increased 12-fold since just 2007.
About 69% of the global population will have access to 3G mobile networks, up from just 45% in 2011.
Access to 3G mobile broadband is still heavily concentrated in urban areas, with around 89% of the four billion people who live in such areas predicted to have access this year. That figure is only 29% for the 3.4 billion people who live in rural areas around the globe. Still, even that is a rapid extension and a large step toward providing Internet access to rural residents.
The full report can be downloaded from the ITU website.
Web-enabled mobile devices, of course, have played a major role in expanding global Internet access.
Mobile broadband is the “most dynamic market segment,” according to the new report, and mobile-broadband penetration will reach 47% in 2015. That figure has increased 12-fold since just 2007.
About 69% of the global population will have access to 3G mobile networks, up from just 45% in 2011.
Access to 3G mobile broadband is still heavily concentrated in urban areas, with around 89% of the four billion people who live in such areas predicted to have access this year. That figure is only 29% for the 3.4 billion people who live in rural areas around the globe. Still, even that is a rapid extension and a large step toward providing Internet access to rural residents.
The full report can be downloaded from the ITU website.
