World Usage Patterns & Demographics

There were an estimated 1,733,993,741 internet users worldwide in September 2009 (representing about 25.6% of the population worldwide), according to statistics updated on 31^st September 2009 by Internet World Stats. This represents an increase of 380.3% compared to 2000:

- In Asia: 738,257,230 (or 19.4% of the population in the region and 42.6% of the total online population), this was up by 545.9% compared to 2000.

- In Europe: 418,029,796 (52.0% of the population in the region and 24.1% of the total online population), this was up by 297.8% compared to 2000.

- In North America: 252,908,000 (74.2% of the population in the region and 14.6% of the total online population), this was up by 134.0% compared to 2000.

- In Latin America/Caribbean: 179,031,479 (30.5% of the population in the region and 10.3% of the total online population), this was up by 890.8% compared to 2000.

- In Africa: 67,371,700 (6.8% of the population in the region and about 3.9% of the total online population), this was up by 1,392.4% compared to 2000.

- In the Middle East: 57,425,046 (28.3% of the population in the region and 3.3% of the total online population), this was up by 1,648.2% compared to 2000.

- In Oceania/Australia: 20,970,490 (60.4% of the population in the region and 1.2% of the total online population), this was up by 175.2% compared to 2000.

(Internet World Stats, November 2009)

Internet Statistics compiled and updated in September 2009 by Internet World Stats shows the top 10 countries in terms of the number of internet users:
1. China: 360,000,000 (20.8% of World users)
2. US: 227,719,000 (13.1%)
3. Japan: 95,979,000 (5.5%)
4. India: 81,000,000 (4.7%)
5. Brazil: 67,510,400 (3.9%)
6. Germany: 54,229,325 (3.1%)
7. UK: 46,683,900 (2.7%)
8. Russia: 45,250,000 (2.6%)
9. France: 43,100,134 (2.5%)
10 South Korea: 37,475,800 (2.2%)
(Internet World Stats, November 2009)

Google has added a new feature to its search results, which is a great tool for doing quick market research. This unique tool helps a lot for retrieving and comparing statistical data. When you query for certain statistical data, Google will produce, at the top of the search results, a small chart. Now if you click on that chart, a web page will open showing all the statistics. The best way to understand this easy to use feature is by doing a search yourself. 

For example, open Google and ask for the number of internet users in any country. For example, ask: "Internet users in Chile", "Population of Austria", "Norway GNI per capita". The reply will have a small chart on top, giving you the answer. If you want more details, click the chart. You can see a full size graph, and a list of countries on the left. You can compare let's say with China. Just select China by clicking on the small box next to the name. A new curve appears on the graph showing the data for China. Now let's compare, for example, with Canada. A new curve appears in the chart. The data is really the "Penetration Rate", not the number of users, for each country. 

This Google Search feature works for the following Public Data:  CO2 emissions per capita; Energy use per capita; Electricity consumption per capita; Exports as percentage of GDP; Fertility rate; GNI per capita in PPP dollars; Gross Domestic Product; Gross National Income in PPP dollars; GDP deflator change; GDP growth rate; Imports as percentage of GDP; Internet users as percent of population; Life expectancy; Military expenditure as percentage of GDP; Mortality rate, under 5; Population; Population growth rate. (Internet World Stats Newsletter - Nov 12, 2009, November 2009)

Five years from now, Google CEO Eric Schmidt envisages the internet to be dominated by the Chinese language and full of social media content. Mr Schmidt said that figuring out how to rank real-time social content is "the great challenge of the age." His thoughts on five years in the future were as follows:

- Five years from now the internet will be dominated by Chinese-language content.

- Today's teenagers are the model of how the web will work in five years; they jump from one subject to another seamlessly.

- Five years is a factor of ten in what has been known as "Moore's Law," meaning that computers will be capable of far more by that time than they are today.

- Within five years there will be broadband well above 100MB in performance, and distribution distinctions between TV, radio and the web will go away.

- Web content will move towards more video.

- It's because of this fundamental shift towards user-generated information that people will listen more to other people than to traditional sources.

(Travelmole, November 2009)

The number of people online around the world will grow more than 45% to 2.2 billion users over the next five years, according to a report by Forrester Research, Inc. with the global online population expected to reach 2.2 billion by 2013. Asia remains the biggest global internet growth market where 43% of the world's online population will reside by 2013 with 17% of the global online population in China alone. Growth rates in the US, Western Europe and the major industrialised nations in Asia Pacific such as Australia, Japan and South Korea will slow to between 1% and 3%.

The internet user base is increasing in every area of the world. Regional highlights include:

- North America: Online penetration in the US is set to rise from 73% to 82% over the next five years, representing about a 3% annual growth rate. By 2013, US online penetration will be on par with the most highly penetrated markets of Europe and Asia, such as the Netherlands, the UK, Japan, and South Korea.

- Europe: Europe's internet growth will be fuelled by the continent's emerging markets. Internet usage in Russia and Turkey will grow by almost 8% annually, while growth in Spain's online population will increase by an average of more than 5% each year.

- Asia: China's online population (already the largest in the world) will rise by nearly 11% each year over the next half decade. Other Asian countries with substantial online growth rates include India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines. By contrast, growth rates in some of the more mature markets such as Japan and South Korea will rise by less than 2% each year.

- Latin America: Brazil is currently the fourth largest market in the world in terms of number of internet users, but despite a 7% annual growth rate over the next five years, it will drop to the No. 5 position in 2010 when it is surpassed by India.

- Africa and the Middle East: The countries of the Middle East and Africa currently represent just 8% of the global online population but over the next five years will see some of the highest growth rates in the world, around 13%. Egypt, Iran, and Nigeria are among the countries with the highest growth rates in the region.

Countries with the most internet users in 2008:
1. US
2. China
3. Japan
4. Brazil
5. Germany

Countries with the most internet users in 2013:
1. China
2. US
3. India
4. Japan
5. Brazil

While per capita online spending is likely to remain highest in North America, Western Europe, and the developed markets of Asia throughout the next five years, the shifting online population and growing spending power among Asian consumers means that Asian markets will represent a far greater percentage of the total in 2013 than they do today, according to Forrester Research. (Forrester Research, July 2009)

Internet and online users in Tanzania are celebrating a new communication era with cheaper, reliable and faster connectivity with the rest of the world after the country's president, Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, launched undersea fiber optic cable in July 2009.

Online newsreaders once frustrated by poor communication system have now joined other African countries through the cable that connects South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to global networks via India and Europe. The launch of the new communications network was greatly welcomed by the tourism industry, which depends heavily on online services in its daily running.

The launch is timely, as it meets bandwidth needs of the 2010 World Cup for South Africa as well as the growing requirements of economies of nations it covers, mainly travel and tourism where most airlines and hotels are now opting for online bookings.

President Kikwete said the launch of the fiber optic cable in Africa was a landmark achievement for the region. The facility is set to provide Africa with inexpensive bandwidth removing international infrastructure bottlenecks and supporting East and South African economic growth. Rwanda set to be linked up in the next two weeks. (eTN eTurboNews - Global Travel Industry News, July 2009)

The estimated size of the internet universe was approximately 1,596,270,108 million users in March 2009, according to the Internet World Stats (IWS). This is considering all the persons of any age, capable of using the internet at any time. IWS has classified the countries and territories of the world, grouping them according to their Internet Penetration Rates (the percentage of the population that are internet users).

Internet penetration rate ranking of countries and territories - March 2009:
- Highly penetrated (over 50% penetration rate): 49
- Intermediately penetrated (between 23.8% and 49.9%): 57
- Low penetration (0 to 23.7%): 120
- No data available for the region: 20
TOTAL of countries and territories researched: 246

For the classification of the countries and territories, the regions with more than 50% penetration were considered highly penetrated by the internet. The intermediate group is under 50% penetration but over 23.8% penetration. The number 23.8% corresponds to the world average penetration rate for March 31, 2009.

Top 10 countries/territories in level of internet usage, March 2009:
1. Greenland: 90.3%
2. Iceland: 90.0%
3. Norway: 86.0%
4. Finland: 83.0%
5. Netherlands: 82.9%
6. Sweden: 80.7%
7. Australia: 80.6%
8. New Zealand: 80.5%
9. Denmark: 80.4%
10. Faroe Islands: 77.1%
(Internet World Stats Newsletter number 044 - June 2009, June 2009)

The worldwide number of internet users surpassed 1.59 billion in 2008, up from only over 2 million in 1990, 45 million in 1995 and 430 million in 2000, according to Computer Industry Almanac. Worldwide yearly increase in internet users is 140-145 million in the next five years, which means the 2 billion mark will happen in 2011 or 2012. Much of current and future internet user growth is coming from populous countries; especially  the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). In the next decade many internet users will be supplementing PC internet usage with Smartphone, mobile phone and mobile device internet usage. In developing countries many new internet users will come from cell phone and Smartphone internet usage. China now leads with over 235 million internet users at year-end 2008. The two most populous countries; China and India are now in 1st and 3rd place in internet users. 

Top 15 countries in internet usage, year end 2008:
1. China: 235.10 million (14.76% share)
2. USA: 234.24 million (14.71%)
3. India: 108.41 million (6.81%)
4. Japan: 99.01 million (6.22%)
5. Germany: 57.03 million (3.58%)
6. UK: 44.89 million (2.82%)
7. Brazil: 41.17 million (2.59%)
8. France: 39.46 million (2.48%)
9. Italy: 37.37 million (2.35%)
10. South Korea: 36.94 million (2.32%)
11. Russia: 35.89 million (2.25%)
12. Indonesia: 33.3 million (2.09%)
13. Canada: 26.06 million (1.64%)
14. Mexico: 25.45 million (1.60%)
15. Spain: 22.91 million (1.44%)

Internet user penetration is now over 70% for the leading countries and future growth is limited for these countries. Internet user penetration for the populous and developing countries remains low, but has room to grow. The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have internet penetration of 21%, 25%, 10% and 14%, respectively. Wireless web usage will account for much of future internet user growth in many developing countries. (Computer Industry Almanac, May 2009)

China is the country with the most number of internet users in 2009 and will remain so by 2013, according to eMarketer.

Top 10 countries ranked by internet users 2009 and 2013:
- China: 313.0 million in 2009 / 476.0 million in 2013
- US: 199.2 million / 221.1 million
- Japan: 92.3 million / 95.7 million
- India: 49.7 million / 96.8 million
- Germany: 48.0 million / 53.1 million
- Russia: 45.8 million / 61.9 million
- Brazil: 44.2 million / 64.6 million
- UK: 39.4 million / 43.7 million
- South Korea: 36.1 million / 38.1 million
- France: 37.0 million / 40.8 million
(eMarketer, May 2009)

There were more than 215.4 million internet users in North America, according to eMarketer. By 2013, the number should reach 247.0 million.

Internet users in North America (US and Canada), 2008-2013:
- 2008: 215.4 million
- 2009: 222.6 million
- 2010: 229.4 million
- 2011: 235.7 million
- 2012: 241.4 million
- 2013: 247.0 million
(eMarketer, March 2009)

36% of Jordanians used the internet in December 2008, an increase of 100% from 2007, according to Strategies, a member of the Harris Interactive Global Network of Independent Market Research Firms. Two-thirds of the users are male, 29 years of age and below. Almost 33% use Internet from home, including relatives and friends, 27% from Internet cafes, 17% from university/schools and just 17% from office/work.

Only 11% of Jordanian homes have an ADSL subscription, making up 75% of all internet subscriptions. High internet subscription fees are viewed as an obstacle to increased penetration. This increase in internet usage, however, shows only a small increase in email usage which stands at 21%, up from 18% in 2007 in a breakout that is composed of 71% males of which 64% are under 29 years of age. Worth noting is that 54% of all Jordanian email users do not think their prior consent is required when their address is targeted by marketing campaigns. 69% believe email spam is not a nuisance.

Yahoo! comes out the winner in terms of email providers with a share of 51%, followed by 28% for Hotmail®, 6% for Gmail^TM and the regional Arabic email/news portal, Maktoob at 7%.

Social media groups are starting to catch on with 9% of the respondents using Facebook, and 3% using MySpace. The findings show that for online language only one third of Internet users are comfortable using English or just 12% of the population which limits the amount of news, information and entertainment being accessed.

Online home banking and e-trade do not account each for more than 2% of all internet usage by adult Jordanians. Internet users spend most of their time browsing the web, downloading video clips and chatting. Other serious endeavors such as research and data collection also rank high on the internet use agenda. An elite sector of society, measuring no more than 4% has Mobile Internet Service.

Visiting blogs is still a novelty with only 3% usage and commenting on articles still a little developed form of expression, standing at only 5% of internet users. Another 4% of Jordan's population listens to radio via the Internet. (Harris Interactive, March 2009) 

The number of people worldwide going online has passed 1 billion for the first time in December 2008, according to comScore.  The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of global Internet users at 41%, followed by Europe (28%), North America (18%), Latin-America (7%) and the Middle East & Africa (5%).

Total worldwide internet audience: regional breakdown ranked by total unique visitors - December 2008 (Age 15+, Home & Work locations):
- Worldwide: 1,007,730,000 (100%)
- Asia Pacific: 416,281,000 (41.3%)
- Europe: 282,651,000 (28.0%)
- North America: 185,109,000 (18.4%)
- Latin America: 74,906,000 (7.4%)
- Middle East & Africa: 48,783,000 (4.8%)

Almost 180 million internet users (over 1 in 6 of the world's online population) live in China, more than any other country. Until a few months ago, the US had most web users, but with 163 million people online, or over half of its total population, it has reached saturation point. More populous countries such as China, Brazil and India have many more potential users and will eventually overtake those western countries with already high penetration rates.

The more populous counties' increasing internet use is expected to drive growth for local online companies like Chinese online gaming company Shanda Interactive, online media company Sina,com, Chinese online travel agency Ctrip, web portal Sohu.com, the Google of China, Baidu, and China Finance Online.

Top 15 countries by internet audience ranked by total unique visitors, December 2008 (age 15+, home & work locations):
1. China: 179,710,000
2. US: 163,300,000
3. Japan: 59,993,000
4. Germany: 36,992,000
5. UK: 36,664,000
6. France: 34,010,000
7. India: 32,099,000
8. Russia: 28,998,000
9. Brazil: 27,688,000
10. South Korea: 27,254,000
11. Canada; 21,908,000
12. Italy: 20,780,000
13. Spain: 17,893,000
14. Mexico: 12,486,000
15. Netherlands: 11,812,000
(HOTELMARKETING.COM and comScore, February 2009)