Over a third (37%) of the world's population have never used the internet, though use jumped to 4.9 billion this year from 4.1 billion in 2019, helped by the coronavirus pandemic and its demand for remote working and schooling, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) revealed. This means 782 million joined the internet in that period, an increase of 17 percent. In the first year of the pandemic alone, the number of people coming to the internet went up by over 10 percent.
The report pointed to a difference between availability and uptake: 95 percent of people in the world could theoretically access a 3G or 4G mobile broadband network, but billions do not connect. Impediments include the affordability of devices and services, a lack of skills and appreciation of the benefits an online connection could bring, plus lack of content in local languages and issues around literacy and numeracy skills.
Strong growth but still unequal distribution
Still, 2.9 billion people worldwide have still never gone on the internet, most of them (96%) in developing countries. The data also shows that among the 4.9 billion counted as internet users, many hundreds of millions go online infrequently, via shared devices or using speeds so low they limit the usefulness of their connection.
The strong growth since 2019 was largely driven by additions in developing countries, where internet penetration climbed more than 13 percent. In the 46 UN-designated Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the average increase exceeded 20 percent. Almost three-quarters in these countries have never connected however, with women remaining particularly marginalized: roughly 4 out of every 5 are still offline.
Gender and urban-rural gaps still glaring
The ITU noted that the digital gender divide is narrowing globally but that large gaps still remain in poorer countries. Worldwide, an average of 62 percent of men use the internet compared with 57 percent of women. In the developing world, the gap has been eliminated, with 89 percent and 88 percent of women accessing the internet respectively, against 31 percent and 19 percent in the LDCs. In Landlocked Developing Countries, 38 percent of men use the internet, compared to 27 percent of women. In Africa in particular, 35 percent of men vs 24 percent of women use the internet. For Arab States, this is at 68 percent and 56 percent, respectively.
The urban-rural gap is still severe, though less in developed countries. Globally, people in urban areas are twice as likely to use the internet than those in rural areas, at 76 percent compared to 39 percent. For developed economies, the gap is at 89 percent against 85 percent, but it jumps to 72 percent against 34 percent in developing countries. In the LDCs, urban dwellers are almost four times as likely to use the internet as people living in rural areas (47% vs 13% respectively).
Generational gap everywhere
Meanwhile, a generational gap can still be observed across all world regions. Globally, 71 percent of the world’s youth (15-24) use the internet, compared with 57 percent among older age groups. This different is most pronounced in the LDCs, where 34 percent of young people are connected against 22 percent of the rest.
