How Many People around the World Can Go Online?

The world will reach a significant milestone for Internet connectivity by the end of 2018. For the first time, more than half of the global population will have online access. According to ITU, the United Nations agency dedicated to information and communications technologies, more than 3.9 billion people, or 51.2 percent of the world population, will have the ability to log on to the Internet and take part in the digital world. A decade ago, online participation was estimated to be only 20 percent. In the developed world, Internet activation rates jumped from 51.3 percent in 2005 to 80.9 percent today. In developing countries, cyber access soared from 7.7 percent to 45.3 percent.

Africa plugs in:

• Advances in mobile technologies have helped to fuel the recent increases. About 96 percent of the world lives within reach of a cellular network, and 90 percent can access at least 3G networks.
• Only 12.4 percent of the world’s population still has a landline. Cellular subscriptions, on the other hand, have skyrocketed. Inevitably, online growth has begun to show signs of slowing, from a 17 percent increase in 2007 to a 5.5 percent rise this year.
• The strongest online growth occurred in Africa, where the percentage of people using the Internet increased from 2.1 percent in 2005 to 24.4 percent in 2018.