There will be approximately three billion Internet users worldwide come end of 2014, based on the latest figures released by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on May 5.
The information and communications technology (ICT) data show that 78 percent of the Internet users will come from developed countries, while 32 percent will come from the developing countries. It also notes that over 90 percent of the people who are introduced to the Internet are also from the developing world.
The ICT data measured [pdf] Internet usage rates by the end of 2014 from the following regions: Africa, Americas, Europe and Asia and the Pacific.
The highest Internet penetration rate globally is in Europe with 75 percent or three out of four people, using the Internet. Next is the Americas with two out of three people using the Internet. As compared to 10 percent in 2010, nearly 20 percent of the African population will also go online by the end of the year. The Asia-Pacific region will account for 45 percent of the Internet users around the world, while one-third of the region will go online by the end of the year, too.
Internet access at home is about to reach saturation levels in developed countries. Of the global households, 44 percent will have access to Internet. Almost 31 percent of households in the developing world will also see themselves being connected to the Internet, while developed countries will see about 78 percent. Out of the two households in the CIS, more than one household will have Internet connection. Africa sees a low level of only one in ten households will get Internet connection, yet it continues to rise twice in rates.
"Behind these numbers and statistics are real human stories. The stories of people whose lives have improved thanks to ICTs," Brahima Sanou, the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau director, says.
He also says that if people want to comprehend the information society and bring about socio-economic development for everyone, then there's a need to measure it, because the bureau cannot trace progress or identify the gaps that require its attention without such.
"The newly released ICT [information and communications technology] figures confirm once again that information and communication technologies continue to be the key drivers of the information society," ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré also says in a statement.
Mobile and telephone subscriptions were also measured.
Mobile-broadband subscriptions are seen to grow at 2.3 billion worldwide. Of these subscriptions, 55 percent are expected to also come from the developing world. The following regions have their corresponding mobile-broadband penetration levels: Europe (64%), the Americas (59%), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (49%), the Arab States (25%), Asia-Pacific (23%) and Africa (19%).
Meanwhile, mobile-cellular subscriptions are said to grow nearly seven billion worldwide, of which 3.6 billion will come from the Asia-Pacific region. Data indicate that such increase comes from the growth seen in the developing world that will account for about 78 percent of the total mobile-cellular subscriptions in the world.
Fixed-telephone subscriptions continue to go down for the past five years, also based on the ICT data. As compared to 2009, this year will have 100 million fewer fixed-telephone subscriptions. Meanwhile, fixed-broadband subscriptions growth in developing countries is slowing down.
