There has been a real push to expand and improve upon Internet connectivity for more rural and less populated parts of continents and the planet as a whole over recent years. That’s very much a necessity given how so much of our lives have been moved into the digital sphere, and we’re not at all talking about simply surfing the internet. People need to be able to go online to do all sorts of tasks related to daily lives, and including much of what is needed for submitting and receiving services from regional and federal governments in all countries.
Even becoming employed in parts of globe where there’s smaller numbers of inhabitants requires people to go online, and it’s for all these reasons and more that network providers have gone to the length they have to make that a reality. Elon Musk’s StarLink is a good example. And so it is that a recent report is revealing that there are currently around 5.16 billion internet users internationally now in 2023, and that works out to about 64.4% of the world’s population having internet access and utilizing it.
The report goes on further to say that within 5 years that number is to grow by about 19%, and that’s a reflection of how the efforts we talked about above continue and are expanded upon. By the end of 2028 there is expected to be 6.13 Billion Internet users, and it’s fairly easy to connect that to a whole lot more interests pushing the introduction of hundreds if not thousands of new websites. It’s for this reason that this development and expansion is of interest to us here at 4GoodHosting in the same way it would be for any good Canadian web hosting provider.
Moving back on topic, there is plenty to look into and unpack as to what this big jump in global internet users means and will mean over the course of those next 5 years, so that’s what we’ll look at with this week’s entry.
Higher Penetration Rates
These estimations are highlighting a number of significant variations in internet usage and penetration rates across different countries. Naturally the highest rates of internet penetration are going to be in developed countries, and it is in those ones where rates of over 80% are seen. Oppositely, less advanced countries often are sub 50% for internet penetration.
The way internet connectivity has been a luxury enjoyed by developed countries nearly exclusively for 20+ years is evidenced in the fact that the top 20 countries account for 3.67 billion internet users, making up a massive 71% of the world’s total.
High population will be an indicator of course, and to that end the largest internet user population is seen in China. There they have 1.05 billion users, and this works out to 20% of the global total. 73.7% of China’s population has internet access. All of that is reinforced by India coming in second here, with 692 million internet users counted for this year 2023.
But with only 48.7% of India’s population having internet access, this tempers that and puts them below the world’s average for users. The highest number of unconnected individuals are in that part of the world too, with estimates of about 730 million people not having any Internet access.
The USA is estimated to have with 311.3 million internet users, and as you might expect this works out to around 92% of its population being freely connected to the Internet when need be. Indonesia and Brazil are next on the list with 212.9 million and 181.8 million internet users, respectively, and internet access rates of 77% and 84.3%.
Russia: 127 million / Nigeria: 123 million / Japan: 102.5 million / Mexico: 100.6 million / Philippines: 85 million
Increasingly Digital Future
With this kind of growth in regular internet users and the and technology advances that are coming alongside it, the digital landscape is set to change in quite a big way. It will be bringing about new opportunities and challenges that will shape the future of the interconnected world. Greater concerns about data privacy and cybersecurity are certainly to come with it too
This creates a stronger need for protecting the security of users’ digital identities and taking national security considerations into account too. This can be connected to bolstering data protection regulations, promoting cybersecurity awareness, and more investment in robust cybersecurity technologies. The last thing to mention in relation to this is with such a surge in Internet users worldwide there is going to also be more of a need to advocate for sustainable digital behaviors as well as ensure workforce activities do not impede on the ability of others to that Internet access they need for personal initiatives and the like. There will be much adaptation required, but when you are sitting where we are it is easy to see how it will be worth it.
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