Around 40 % of the world population has an internet connection today. Back in 1995, this percentage was less than 1%.
The Internet has truly turned the world into one global society. As a result, the number of Internet Users has skyrocketed in the past two decades. With the fast pace growth and availability of technology and the increasing usage of the internet, people all over the world have embraced it.
The year 2005 saw the internet user number reaching the first billion. In 2010 the number touched second billion and 2014 saw the internet user population reaching the third billion with a total of 40.4% penetration.
The chart & tablebelow shows the number of global internet users per year since 1993:
Internet Users in the World Internet Year (as of July 1)
| Year========== | Internet Users | |||||
| 1993========== | 14161570 | |||||
| 1994========== | 25454590 | |||||
| 1995========== | 44838900 | |||||
| 1996========== | 77433860 | |||||
| 1997========== | 120758310 | |||||
| 1998========== | 188023930 | |||||
| 1999========== | 280866670 | |||||
| 2000========== | 413425190 | |||||
| 2001========== | 500609240 | |||||
| 2002========== | 662663600 | |||||
| 2003========== | 778555680 | |||||
| 2004========== | 910060180 | |||||
| 2005========== | 1029717906 | |||||
| 2006========== | 1157500065 | |||||
| 2007========== | 1373040542 | |||||
| 2008========== | 1562067594 | |||||
| 2009========== | 1752333178 | |||||
| 2010========== | 2034259368 | |||||
| 2011========== | 2272463038 | |||||
| 2012========== | 2511615523 | |||||
| 2013========== | 2712239573 | |||||
| 2014========== | 2925249355 | |||||
| Year (July 1) |
Internet Users | Users Growth |
World Population | Population Growth |
Penetration (% of Pop. with Internet) |
|
| 2014 | 2,925,249,355 | 7.9% | 7,243,784,121 | 1.14% | 40.4% | |
| 2013 | 2,712,239,573 | 8.0% | 7,162,119,430 | 1.16% | 37.9% | |
| 2012 | 2,511,615,523 | 10.5% | 7,080,072,420 | 1.17% | 35.5% | |
| 2011 | 2,272,463,038 | 11.7% | 6,997,998,760 | 1.18% | 32.5% | |
| 2010 | 2,034,259,368 | 16.1% | 6,916,183,480 | 1.19% | 29.4% | |
| 2009 | 1,752,333,178 | 12.2% | 6,834,721,930 | 1.20% | 25.6% | |
| 2008 | 1,562,067,594 | 13.8% | 6,753,649,230 | 1.21% | 23.1% | |
| 2007 | 1,373,040,542 | 18.6% | 6,673,105,940 | 1.21% | 20.6% | |
| 2006 | 1,157,500,065 | 12.4% | 6,593,227,980 | 1.21% | 17.6% | |
| 2005 | 1,029,717,906 | 13.1% | 6,514,094,610 | 1.22% | 15.8% | |
| 2004 | 910,060,180 | 16.9% | 6,435,705,600 | 1.22% | 14.1% | |
| 2003 | 778,555,680 | 17.5% | 6,357,991,750 | 1.23% | 12.2% | |
| 2002 | 662,663,600 | 32.4% | 6,280,853,820 | 1.24% | 10.6% | |
| 2001 | 500,609,240 | 21.1% | 6,204,147,030 | 1.25% | 8.1% | |
| 2000 | 413,425,190 | 47.2% | 6,127,700,430 | 1.26% | 6.7% | |
| 1999 | 280,866,670 | 49.4% | 6,051,478,010 | 1.27% | 4.6% | |
| 1998 | 188,023,930 | 55.7% | 5,975,303,660 | 1.30% | 3.1% | |
| 1997 | 120,758,310 | 56.0% | 5,898,688,340 | 1.33% | 2.0% | |
| 1996 | 77,433,860 | 72.7% | 5,821,016,750 | 1.38% | 1.3% | |
| 1995 | 44,838,900 | 76.2% | 5,741,822,410 | 1.43% | 0.8% | |
| 1994 | 25,454,590 | 79.7% | 5,661,086,350 | 1.47% | 0.4% | |
| 1993 | 14,161,570 | 5,578,865,110 | 0.3% | |||
| Source: Live Internet Stats (elaboration of data by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations Population Division) | ||||||
Internet Users by Region
As of July 1, 2013:
Asia-Americas (North and South) EuropeAfricaOceania48.4%9.8%19%21.8%
| World Geographic Regions | Percentage of global internet users |
| Asia | 1322491069 |
| Americas (North and South) | 596331291 |
| Europe | 520381481 |
| Africa | 268209162 |
| Oceania | 25109590 |
Source: Live Internet Stats (elaboration of data by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations Population Division).
The above chart shows that Asia has the highest number of internet users followed by the American continents and then by Europe. The data trend shows that the number of internet users will continue to grow at a rapid rate with Asia and America sharing the largest percentage of global internet users.