Growth of Worldwide Internet Users

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Population Online 1998

Population Online 2003

Population Online 2008

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It shows that there is substantial growth in the adoption of Internet across the Globe. The rate of adoption at best can be described as phenomenal. No communication and Collaboration technology has ever seen such a fast rate of adoption in the past.

However, the charts showing percent of population only tell part of the story. If one looks at the absolute number of users another picture emerges:

WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS
World Regions	Population ( 2009 Est.)	Internet Users Dec. 31, 2000	Internet Users Latest Data	Penetration (% Population)	Growth 2000-2009	Users % of Table
Africa	991,002,342	4,514,400	67,371,700	6.8 %	1,392.4 %	3.9 %
Asia	3,808,070,503	114,304,000	738,257,230	19.4 %	545.9 %	42.6 %
Europe	803,850,858	105,096,093	418,029,796	52.0 %	297.8 %	24.1 %
Middle East	202,687,005	3,284,800	57,425,046	28.3 %	1,648.2 %	3.3 %
North America	340,831,831	108,096,800	252,908,000	74.2 %	134.0 %	14.6 %
Latin America/Caribbean	586,662,468	18,068,919	179,031,479	30.5 %	890.8 %	10.3 %
Oceania / Australia	34,700,201	7,620,480	20,970,490	60.4 %	175.2 %	1.2 %
WORLD TOTAL	6,767,805,208	360,985,492	1,733,993,741	25.6 %	380.3 %	100.0 %
NOTES: (1) Internet Usage and World Population Statistics are for September 30, 2009. (2) CLICK on each world region name for detailed regional usage information. (3) Demographic (Population) numbers are based on data from the US Census Bureau . (4) Internet usage information comes from data published by Nielsen Online, by the International Telecommunications Union, by GfK, local Regulators and other reliable sources. (5) For definitions, disclaimer, and navigation help, please refer to the Site Surfing Guide. (6) Information in this site may be cited, giving the due credit to www.internetworldstats.com. Copyright © 2001 - 2009, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved worldwide.

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We notice that even though Asia is behind in the percentage adoption rate but as absolute numbers 738+million online user versus 418+million online user in Europe, leads the pack in the total number of users. A further breakdown of online users in top countries of the world is shown in the table below:

TOP 20 COUNTRIES WITH HIGHEST NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS

# Country or Region Population, 2009 Est Users Latest Data % Population (Penetration) Growth 2000-2009 % of World Users 1 China 1,338,612,968 360,000,000 26.9 % 1,500.0 % 20.8 % 2 United States 307,212,123 227,719,000 74.1 % 138.8 % 13.1 % 3 Japan 127,078,679 95,979,000 75,5 % 103.9 % 5.5 % 4 India 1,156,897,766 81,000,000 7.0 % 1,520.0 % 4.7 % 5 Brazil 198,739,269 67,510,400 34.0 % 1,250.2 % 3.9 % 6 Germany 82,329,758 54,229,325 65.9 % 126.0 % 3.1 % 7 United Kingdom 61,113,205 46,683,900 76.4 % 203.1 % 2.7 % 8 Russia 140,041,247 45,250,000 32.3 % 1,359.7 % 2.6 % 9 France 62,150,775 43,100,134 69.3 % 407.1 % 2.5 % 10 Korea South 48,508,972 37,475,800 77.3 % 96.8 % 2.2 % 11 Iran 66,429,284 32,200,000 48.5 % 12,780.0 % 1.9 % 12 Italy 58,126,212 30,026,400 51.7 % 127.5 % 1.7 % 13 Indonesia 240,271,522 30,000,000 12.5 % 1,400.0 % 1.7 % 14 Spain 40,525,002 29,093,984 71.8 % 440.0 % 1.7 % 15 Mexico 111,211,789 27,600,000 24.8 % 917.5 % 1.6 % 16 Turkey 76,805,524 26,500,000 34.5 % 1,225.0 % 1.5 % 17 Canada 33,487,208 25,086,000 74.9 % 97.5 % 1.4 % 18 Philippines 97,976,603 24,000,000 24.5 % 1,100.0 % 1.4 % 19 Vietnem 88,576,758 21,963,117 24.8 % 10,881.6 % 1.3 % 20 Poland 38,482,919 20,020,362 52.0 % 615.0 % 1.2 % TOP 20 Countries 4,374,577,583 1,325,437,422 30.3 % 359.9 % 76.4 % Rest of the World 2,393,227,625 408,556,319 17.1 % 461.5 % 23.6 % Total World - Users 6,767,805,208 1,733,993,741 25.6 % 380.3 % 100.0 %

NOTES: (1) World Internet User Statistics were updated for September 30, 2009. (2) Additional data for individual countries and regions may be found by clicking each country name. (3) The most recent user information comes from data published by Nielsen Online, International Telecommunications Union, Official country reports, and other trustworthy research sources. (6) Data from this site may be cited, giving due credit and establishing an active link back to Internet World Stats. Copyright © 2001 - 2009, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved.

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What we find that China leads the pack in the number of online users while US is behind it. China's neighbor India with similar population shows up at number fourth with substantially less number of users online when compared with China.

We all know that communication and collaboration technology is the life blood of culture and that in turn determines the type of society one will have. Therefore, these numbers become indicative of human development across the globe.