Internet Usage Statistics By Global Users and Facts (2026)

Introduction

Internet use has become a core part of daily life worldwide. Today, more than 6.04 billion people use the internet, which equals 73.2% of the global population. This wide reach shows how digital access is shaping communication, business, and social behavior across regions.

China has the largest number of internet users, with over 1.3 billion people online. Other large markets are also growing fast as mobile technology becomes easier to access. Lower smartphone prices, affordable mobile data plans, and rising incomes have helped more people get connected. At the same time, strong demand for digital services such as e-commerce, video streaming, online payments, and social media continues to drive internet adoption.

According to a study, internet growth is not only about access, but also about how people use digital tools. Usage patterns differ by country, age group, income level, and purpose. In this article, we present key internet usage statistics, with a clear focus on country-level data, user demographics, and major global trends that explain how and why the internet continues to expand worldwide.

Editor’s Choice

1. Around 6.04 billion people worldwide use the internet, showing strong global digital adoption.
2. As of February 2025, the global internet penetration rate stands at 67.9%.
3. China leads the world with about 1.3 billion internet users.
4. India follows closely, with nearly 1.03 billion people connected online.
5. In the United States, the number of internet users is projected to reach 327.18 million.
6. On average, users spend 6 hours and 36 minutes online every day, highlighting deep daily reliance on the internet.
7. Northern Europe has the highest regional internet penetration rate at 97.9%.
8. Eastern Africa has the lowest internet penetration globally, with only 28.5% of the population online.
9. Mobile phones are the main access point, with 95.9% of users connecting through smartphones.
10. About 62.2% of global users access the internet using laptops or desktops.
11. Tablets are less common, used by only 27.6% of internet users worldwide.
12. Internet usage among women has reached 64.4%, showing steady growth.
13. Internet usage among men is higher at 69.8%, but the gap is narrowing.
14. Female internet usage grew by 5% YoY, faster than the 4.3% YoY growth seen among males.

Global Internet Users Growth Over Time

• More than 6.04 billion people worldwide currently use the internet, indicating strong global digital growth.
• The total number of internet users increased by 300 million, from 5.74 billion in October 2024 to 6.04 billion in October 2025, according to the latest available data.
• This steady rise confirms that internet access continues to expand across both developed and emerging markets.
• In July 2018, there were 3.85 billion internet users globally. Since then, about 1.8 billion new users have come online in seven years.
• This long-term growth reflects better access to affordable smartphones, lower data costs, and wider use of online services.
• The data clearly shows that global internet adoption has more than doubled since October 2015.

Here is a table displaying the number of internet users by year:

Primary Reasons for Using the Internet in 2026

• Out of the 8.2 billion people currently living on Earth, 5.56 billion individuals, representing 67.9% of the global population, are actively connected to the internet.
• The average internet user dedicates exactly 6 hours and 36 minutes of their day to being online and engaging in various digital activities.
• A significant 62.8% of these connected individuals state that searching for information is their top reason for logging on to the web.
• Maintaining personal relationships is another primary driver, with 60.2% of internet users prioritising their connection specifically for keeping in touch with friends and family members.
• Exactly 55.0% of the online population uses the internet primarily to read news stories and keep up to date with current global and local events.
• Another 54.7% of global internet users dedicate their digital screen time to entertainment by watching videos, television shows, and movies across various platforms.
• A total of 5.24 billion people, representing 63.9% of the world’s population, actively use social media networks to facilitate daily communication and information searches.
• User attention for these activities is heavily concentrated across major platforms: 3.07 billion people use Facebook, 2.53 billion watch content on YouTube, and 2.00 billion browse Instagram.
• Despite this massive global digital footprint, exactly 2.63 billion people worldwide remain completely offline and unable to participate in these internet activities.

Global Internet Penetration Rate

• According to the latest available data, 73.2% of the world’s population uses the internet as of October 2025.
• Data indicates that this figure shows a strong and steady rise in global digital access.
• Internet usage has grown rapidly over the past decade. In 2017, only 50% of the global population had access to the internet.
• This means that billions of people have come online in just a few years, driven by lower data costs, wider smartphone use, and better network coverage.
• The data clearly shows that internet access is becoming more common across both developed and developing regions.

Share of the world population using the internet by year:

• October 2025: 73.2%
• January 2024: 66.2%
• 2021: 59.5%
• 2020: 59%
• 2016: 46%

Overall, the trend confirms that global internet penetration continues to rise each year, showing long-term growth in worldwide connectivity.

Top Countries by Number of Internet Users

• China has the largest internet population in the world, with about 1.3 billion users.
• China’s lead is driven by its large population and strong digital platforms.
• India ranks second, with nearly 1.03 billion internet users as of 2025.
• Rapid smartphone growth and low mobile data prices have helped expand internet access in India.
• The United States ranks third, with around 324 million internet users.
• High digital maturity and near-universal access support strong internet usage in the US.
• Indonesia follows with about 230 million people connected online.
• Brazil has approximately 185 million internet users, driven by mobile-first access.
• Russia has nearly 136 million internet users.
• Pakistan has around 117 million internet users.
• Mexico reports nearly 110 million internet users.
• Nigeria has about 109 million internet users, the highest in Africa.
• Japan rounds out the list with roughly 107 million internet users.
• Overall, these figures show that countries with large populations and affordable access to the internet tend to have the highest number of internet users globally.

The following table displays the countries with the highest number of internet users by country:

Global Internet Penetration by Region

• According to the latest available data from February 2025, the global internet penetration rate stands at 67.9%.
• This means more than two-thirds of the world’s population now has access to the internet.
• Internet access levels vary widely by region, mainly due to differences in income levels, infrastructure, and data costs.
• Northern Europe records the highest internet penetration globally, with nearly 97.5% of its population using the internet.
• In contrast, Eastern Africa has the lowest internet penetration rate worldwide, with only 28.5% of the population online.
• These gaps highlight ongoing digital inequality between developed and developing regions.

Here are further details about the global internet penetration rate by region:

Average Daily Time Spent on the Internet

• On average, a typical internet user spends about 6 hours and 36 minutes online each day worldwide.
• This shows that the internet remains a major part of daily life for most users.
• Daily internet usage increased by 5 minutes compared to the previous quarter, when users spent 6 hours and 31 minutes online.
• Time spent online reached its highest levels during the COVID period, when work, education, and entertainment shifted online.
• In recent quarters, average daily internet time has declined slightly but remains high and stable.
• Factors such as digital fatigue, return to offline activities, and balanced screen habits have influenced this trend, alongside stable data.

The following table displays the average time spent online by internet users worldwide:

Devices Used to Access the Internet Worldwide

• Most people worldwide access the internet on mobile devices, indicating a strong shift toward mobile-first connectivity.
• Device choice is influenced by affordability, ease of use, and data costs..
• About 95.9% of internet users worldwide use a mobile phone to go online.
• Within mobile access, 93.7% of users connect through smartphones, making them the most common internet device globally.
• 62.2% of users access the internet on a laptop or desktop, indicating that computers remain important for work and study.
• 54% of global internet users use personal laptops or desktops.
• Work-provided laptops or desktops are used by 27.7% of users, mainly for professional tasks.
• 31.6% of users access the internet through connected televisions, driven by streaming services.
• 27.6% of internet users go online using tablet devices, which remain a secondary access option.
• 18.1% of users connect through smart home devices, such as voice assistants.
• 11.5% of users access the internet via gaming consoles.
• Older feature phones are still used by 4.5% of users for internet access.
• 4.4% of users connect through virtual reality devices, showing early-stage adoption.
• Overall, the data confirms that mobile phones dominate global internet access, while other devices support specific use cases like work, entertainment, and smart homes.

Internet User Demographics by Gender and Age

Gender-based internet usage

• Internet access shows a small but clear gender gap globally.
• Around 64.4% of the global female population uses the internet.
• In comparison, about 69.8% of the global male population is online.
• Internet usage among women increased by 5% YoY, faster than among men.
• Internet usage among men grew by 4.3% YoY, indicating steady but slightly slower growth.
• In the United States, internet access is nearly universal across genders.
• About 97% of women and 96% of men in the US use the internet.
  

Internet Users in the United States by Gender Over Time

Here is a table showing the distribution of internet users in the U.S. by gender:

• In 2024, 96% of men and 97% of women used the internet.
• In 2019, internet usage stood at 90% for men and 91% for women.
• In 2016, internet usage was 89% for men and 86% for women.

Internet Usage by Age Group in the United States

• Internet adoption in the US remains high across all adult age groups.
• About 98% of adults aged 30 to 49 years use the internet, making this the most connected age group.
• Nearly 97% of adults aged 18 to 29 years have internet access.
• Around 96% of adults aged 50 to 64 years are internet users.
• Internet usage among older adults has dropped, with 88% of people aged 65 and above accessing the internet.

Mobile Internet Usage Trends

• Mobile phones are the main way people access the internet worldwide.
• Data indicates that mobile access continues to dominate due to low device costs and affordable data plans.
• About 95.9% of global internet users access the internet using a mobile phone as of Q2 2025.
• This share declined slightly by 0.3 percentage points compared to Q2 2024 and by 0.1 percentage points compared to the end of 2023, showing stable but mature adoption.

Share of internet users accessing the internet via mobile phones by quarter:

• Q2 2025: 95.9%
• Q2 2024: 96.2%
• Q2 2023: 95.8%

Mobile Internet Users in the United States

• In the United States, an estimated 308.67 million people will use mobile phones to access the internet in 2024.
• This represents a 4.79% YoY increase compared to 294.55 million mobile internet users in 2023.
• The number of mobile internet users in the US is expected to continue rising in the coming years.
• By 2029, mobile internet users in the US are projected to reach 324.25 million.

The number of mobile internet users in the United States by year.

Time Spent and Mobile Web Traffic

• On average, people spend 4 hours and 49 minutes per day using the internet on their mobile phones.
• This equals about 33 hours and 42 minutes per week spent on mobile internet usage.
• Users also spend around 18 hours and 46 minutes per week on social media platforms, mostly through mobile devices.
• Mobile devices generate 54.67% of total global web traffic.
• Since 2017, mobile web traffic has remained near 50% and crossed this mark permanently in 2020.
• Overall, the data confirms that mobile devices now lead in internet access, usage time, and global web traffic share.

Global Search Engine Usage and Market Share

• According to DataReportal’s analysis of GWI data, search engines remain among the most widely used online tools worldwide.
• Each month, about 81.8% of internet users use search engines to find information online.
• Since Q1 2022, the share of users relying on search engines has stayed stable between 80% and 83%, showing consistent demand.

Global Search Engine Market Share

• Google leads the global search engine market with a 90.48% share, maintaining a strong, stable position.
• Bing ranks second with 3.93% of the global market.
• Yandex follows with a 1.95% share.
• Baidu accounts for 0.79% of global searches.
• DuckDuckGo holds a 0.64% market share worldwide.
• This strong lead shows that search engines, especially Google, remain the primary source of online information, supported by low access costs.

Mobile Search Engine Market Share

• Search engine use on mobile devices is even more concentrated than on desktops.
• Google dominates the mobile search market with a 94.69% global share.
• Yandex ranks second among mobile search engines worldwide.
• Baidu holds 0.88% of the mobile search market.
• Bing accounts for 0.75% of mobile searches.
• Yahoo and DuckDuckGo hold smaller shares at 0.6% and 0.54%, respectively.

Search Volume and Advanced Search Trends

• Google processes about 16.4 billion searches per day, showing the massive scale of search activity.
• This equals roughly 190,000 searches per second worldwide.
• More than 1 billion voice searches are performed every month, driven by smart assistants and mobile use.
• Google Lens handles around 8 billion visual searches per month, highlighting growth in image-based search.
• Overall, these figures confirm that search engines continue to play a central role in how people discover information online across both desktop and mobile platforms.

Global Social Media Usage

• According to Technavio, social media has become a core part of global internet activity.
• About 95.9% of internet users worldwide use at least one social media platform.
• Around 5.41 billion people use social media globally, which equals 66.4% of the world’s total population.
• On average, users spend 2 hours and 40 minutes per day on social media platforms.
• This high usage is supported by affordable smartphones and mobile data plans.

Growth in the Number of Social Media Users Worldwide

• The number of social media users has increased steadily every year.
• In 2017, there were 2.73 billion social media users worldwide.
• By 2020, this number grew to 3.9 billion, driven by mobile adoption and online engagement.
• In 2023, global social media users reached 4.90 billion.
• By 2025, the total number of users rose further to 5.41 billion.

 The number of social media users recorded over the years: 

Top Social Media Platforms by Number of Users

• Facebook was the first platform to cross 1 billion registered accounts.
• Today, Facebook remains the largest social media platform, with 3.07 billion users worldwide.
• YouTube follows with 2.50 billion users.
• WhatsApp and Instagram each have about 2 billion users.
• TikTok has grown rapidly to 1.60 billion users.
• WeChat records 1.36 billion users.
• Facebook Messenger has 977 million users.
• Telegram reports 900 million users.
• Snapchat has around 800 million users.

Social Media Usage in the United States

• The United States has around 253 million people who actively use social media platforms.
• This represents about 70.1% of all internet users in the country.
• High smartphone usage and strong digital spending capacity continue to support social media growth in the US.
• Overall, the data shows that social media usage is expanding steadily worldwide, with strong engagement across platforms and regions.

The Impact of AI on Search and Internet Usage

• According to DemandSage, ChatGPT’s weekly active user base had surged to 800 million globally by February 2026, with India accounting for 100 million of those users alone.
• First Page Sage reports that the generative AI search market is currently dominated by ChatGPT, with 60.7% market share, followed by Google Gemini at 15.0% and Microsoft Copilot at 13.2%.
• Approximately 60% of all Google searches now end without a click to a website, a figure that jumps to 77% for mobile users due to the immediate satisfaction provided by AI summaries directly on the results page, according to The Digital Bloom.
• When Google’s AI Overviews are present on a search results page, traditional click-through rates plummet by 47% because the searcher’s query is already fully resolved by the machine-generated text.
• The introduction of conversational AI interfaces has led to a 60% average decline in organic search traffic in the United States, while global website traffic has dropped by roughly 52%.
• Master of Code Stated that Generative AI usage reveals a stark generational divide, with 80% of Generation Z professionals utilising AI for more than half of their daily tasks compared to 50% of Baby Boomers who do not use it at all.
• Despite experiencing a 64% decline in click-through rates for high-traffic keywords, users who navigate to websites via AI-cited sources spend 8% more time on the page and exhibit a 23% lower bounce rate.
• McKinsey reports that by 2028, an estimated $750 billion in U.S. consumer revenue is projected to flow directly through AI-powered search platforms rather than traditional search engines.
• Traditional search engine volume is forecast to drop by an additional 25% throughout 2026 as consumers increasingly rely on autonomous AI chatbots and virtual agents for their daily information retrieval.
• Around 88% of modern organisations have integrated AI into at least one business function, with 72% specifically utilising Generative AI tools to streamline their operational and marketing workflows.
• Traffic to standalone AI chatbot platforms reached 55.2 billion visits during a recent 12-month tracking period, reflecting an 80.92% year-over-year growth in AI-driven internet browsing behaviours.

Internet Speeds and 5G Adoption Worldwide

• According to Observer Diplomat, Average global fixed broadband speeds have reached approximately 242 Mbps in developed nations like the United States, while ultra-high-speed fiber networks in China have achieved verifiable downstream speeds of 9,834 Mbps and latency as low as 3 milliseconds.
• IJIRT Researchers state that the global average mobile internet download speed currently stands at 50 Mbps, alongside an average upload speed of 11.3 Mbps, highlighting a significant performance gap compared to fixed broadband infrastructure.
• DIGITIMES reports that Global 5G network subscriptions successfully reached 2.9 billion by early 2026, officially accounting for 33% of all mobile users worldwide.
• Upstox says North America currently leads global 5G network penetration with 79% of its mobile subscriptions operating on 5G infrastructure, followed closely by Northeast Asia at 61% and the Gulf Cooperation Council markets at 55%.
• According to The420.in, India recorded 394 million active 5G users by the end of 2025, which represents 32% of the country’s total mobile connections, driving average data consumption to a world-leading 36 gigabytes per active smartphone every month.
• Global mobile network data traffic surged by 20% year-over-year to reach 188 exabytes per month, with 5G networks currently handling approximately 43% of that traffic.
• Ericsson Mobility Researchers noted that Telecommunications analysts forecast that 5G technology will surpass 4G by 2027, becoming the dominant global mobile network technology, eventually reaching 6.4 billion users, or 66% of all mobile connections, by 2031.
• Median download speeds for Starlink satellite internet users in remote regions reached nearly 200 Mbps during peak demand hours, while next-generation hardware deployments scheduled for 2026 are targeting capacities of 1,000 Mbps.
• Basenor reports that SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, successfully expanded its subscriber base to 10 million active global customers by February 2026, launching operations across 155 countries to bridge the digital divide in historically unconnected rural areas.
• IEEE ComSoc Techblog noted that the Starlink network operates an active constellation of 8,377 operational satellites in low Earth orbit, out of 11,178 total launches, relaying internet traffic to over 1,500 strategic ground gateway antennas to maintain continuous service.
• SpaceX Official Communications said that Engineers reduced worst-case peak hour satellite latency by over 60%, dropping network delays from over 150 milliseconds down to under 65 milliseconds for subscribers dependent on space-based connectivity.
• Overall, internet traffic flowing through Starlink’s satellite infrastructure more than doubled over the past year, driven by rapid market expansion into 42 new countries where traditional fibre-optic or 5G broadband infrastructure remains economically unfeasible.

Global Connectivity and the Offline Population

• The International Telecommunication Union, under the leadership of Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, reports that 2.6 billion people remained completely offline in 2024.
• This disconnected group represents 32% of the global population.
• The global digital divide reveals a stark income gap: 93% of individuals in high-income countries use the internet, compared to only 27% in low-income nations.
• United Nations Special Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill notes that the entire continent of Africa holds less than 1% of global data center capacity.
• The World Bank reports that globally, the monthly average data usage per fixed-broadband subscription is 257 gigabytes, while in low-income countries, it is only 1 gigabyte per mobile subscription.
• International Telecommunication Union data shows that 70% of men use the internet globally compared to 65% of women, leaving 244 million more men online than women.
• Worldwide, 79% of people aged between 15 and 24 use the internet, which is 14 percentage points higher than the rest of the global population.

Regional Disparities: The Case of Eastern Africa

• The East African region faces severe digital penetration challenges, with a regional average smartphone ownership rate of only 32%.
• Research by Lillian Nalwoga from the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa demonstrates that high regional deployment costs severely restrict digital trade and internet penetration.
• The International Centre for Tax and Development highlights that in the East African nation of Rwanda, mobile broadband coverage reaches 99% of the country, yet actual mobile internet usage sits at just 20%.
• Smartphone ownership in Rwanda remains at 22%, falling behind the broader Sub-Saharan Africa average of 49%.
• A 2023 United Nations Development Programme study reveals that 70.7% of Kenya’s population resides in rural areas where broadband adoption rates are significantly lower than in urban centers.
• The Kenyan digital economy currently contributes 7.7% to Africa’s total gross domestic product, but this financial growth is heavily concentrated in urban hubs rather than disconnected rural communities.

Barriers to Entry: Infrastructure, Digital Literacy, and Affordability

• World Bank Chief Economist for Africa Andrew Dabalen states that while 84% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa live within a 3G infrastructure coverage area, only 22% actually use mobile internet services.
• The global target for internet affordability set by the United Nations Broadband Commission is 2% of monthly per-capita gross national income, but the average cost for 1 gigabyte of mobile data in Sub-Saharan Africa reached 10.5%.
• The median cost of an entry-level internet-enabled handset in Sub-Saharan Africa consumes more than 25.2% of the monthly gross domestic product per capita.
• In East Africa, the lowest 40% of income earners must spend roughly 60% of their monthly income to purchase a basic internet-enabled phone and 1 gigabyte of data.
• The United Nations Development Programme study in Kenya shows that the average price for a 2-gigabyte mobile data package is 4.64 US dollars, while a 5-gigabyte fixed broadband package costs 26.92 US dollars.
• The Rwandan Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Innovation estimates that 5 million citizens require enhanced digital skills training to successfully navigate basic online public platforms.
• The Rwandan government has set a target to increase basic digital literacy from 53% to 80% by the year 2027 to help bridge the usability gap.
• Data from the GSMA, the mobile network trade association, indicates that women in Sub-Saharan Africa are 37% less likely than men to use mobile internet, directly tying literacy and social barriers to the gender digital divide.
• Over 470 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa lack any formal proof of identification, which physically prevents them from passing the regulatory requirements to register for mobile connections or digital public services.

Conclusion

The data clearly shows that internet and social media usage have reached a mature yet steadily growing stage worldwide. With billions of users online, high daily engagement, and strong mobile dominance, digital platforms have become essential to how people communicate, work, shop, and consume content.

While growth in developed regions is nearing saturation, emerging markets continue to drive new user adoption, driven by improving infrastructure and affordable access. At the same time, trends such as mobile-first behaviour, rising social media penetration, and stable search engine usage highlight long-term shifts in user habits.

Overall, the global digital landscape remains strong, with sustained engagement and expanding reach shaping future opportunities for businesses, policymakers, and technology providers.