A new report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveals that 3.2 billion people are using the Internet this year.
The ITU is the agency of the United Nations that is tasked with overseeing international communications, and the report that it released highlights the massive growth and increase in significance of the Internet in the daily lives of people around the world.
The number of Internet users has skyrocketed from only 738 million in the year 2000 to 3.2 billion users this year, with Internet penetration increasing almost seven times from 6.3 percent to 43 percent of the world population over the same period.
Of the 3.2 billion people that are connected to the Internet, the ITU report reveals that most of the users, specifically about 2 billion people, are living in developing countries.
Most of the growth in the number of Internet users can be attributed to the rapid rise of mobile Internet. The report stated that mobile broadband penetration has increased 12 times compared to 2007, and for this year, 69 percent of the global population will be covered by at least 3G broadband.
However, growth for fix-broadband connectivity has been slowing down, with annual growth at only 7 percent over the previous three years. This could be due to the fact that this type of connection is found to be more expensive by 1.7 times compared to mobile broadband connections.
Another reason for the massive increase in the number of Internet users is the increased affordability to access it. According to the report by the ITU, broadband connections are currently tagged as affordable in 111 countries, with a basic fixed or mobile Internet plan costing lower than 5 percent of the gross national income per capita.
The report also revealed that the percentage of households with access to the Internet has jumped from 18 percent in 2005 to 46 percent this year, undoubtedly caused by the aforementioned increased affordability of an Internet connection.
However, despite the massive growth in Internet user numbers, over two-thirds of the population in developing countries are still not connected to the Internet. This is why companies such as Facebook and Google are carrying out projects to provide people in these countries with affordable, and sometimes free, Internet connections, as they are considered high-potential markets for the services that Internet companies offer. All they need is a way to connect to the Internet.
The statistics of the ITU was recognized as the most reliable and impartial data in the world concerning the state of the global Internet communications industry. The data is used by intergovernmental agencies, private sector analysts and financial institutions.
Photo: Joe Stump | Flickr
