As of January 2024, there were 5.35 billion internet users worldwide, which amounted to 66.2 percent of the global population
Latest figures by Statista, show that of this total, 5.04 billion, or 62.3 percent of the world’s population, were social media users.
This is as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria’s telecoms industry regulator, recently reported that the number of internet connections in the country had increased to 160.171 million as at the end of third quarter of 2023.
In 2023, the number of internet users worldwide stood at 5.3 billion, which means that around two thirds of the global population is currently connected to the World Wide Web.
Experts have however cautioned that the number of internet connections does not actually represent people given that individuals in urban areas of various countries have multiple connections to the internet, while their counterparts in rural and low-income economies are still unserved or underserved.
Internet demographics
Statista further explained in its updated data that as of 2022, the share of female internet users worldwide was 63 percent, six percent less than that of men.
While it was observed that gender disparity in internet usage was bigger in the Arab States and Africa, with around a ten percent difference, worldwide regions, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe, showed a smaller gender gap.
As of 2022, global internet usage was higher among individuals between 15 and 24 years across all regions, with young people in Europe representing the most significant usage penetration, 98 percent.
In comparison, the worldwide average for the age group 15-24 years was 75 percent.
Meanehile, the income level of the countries was also an essential factor for internet access, as 92 percent of the population of the countries with high income reportedly used the internet, as opposed to only 26 percent of the low-income markets.
Global internet usage
Connecting billions of people worldwide, the internet is a core pillar of the modern information society. Northern Europe ranked first among worldwide regions by the share of the population using the internet in 2023.
In Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, 99 percent of the population used the internet as of April 2023. North Korea was at the opposite end of the spectrum, with virtually no internet usage penetration among the general population, ranking last worldwide.
Asia was home to the largest number of online users worldwide – over 2.93 billion at the latest count. Europe ranked second, with around 750 million internet users. China, India, and the United States rank ahead of other countries worldwide by the number of internet users.
