Dailyreport
In 2024, there will be 5.5 billion Internet users, according to the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Facts & Figures 2024 study.ITU report: internet users reached 5.5 billion in 2024.
Compared to the updated 2023 numbers, this indicates a huge rise of 227 million people.
When it comes to information and communication technologies, or ICTs, the ITU is the UN’s specialised agency.
According to the report, 2.6 billion people, or roughly one-third of the world’s population, are still offline even though global connection is still increasing and currently reaches 68% of the world’s population.
The research emphasises how the objective of universal connection is still threatened by enduring digital disparities, especially in low-income and least-developed nations.
“Facts and Figures 2024 tells the story of two digital realities between high-income and low-income countries,” stated ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
“The most vulnerable individuals are being denied online access to information, education, and job prospects due to stark disparities in essential connectivity metrics.
“This report serves as a reminder that real progress in our globalised world requires that everyone advance together, not just how quickly we advance.”
Nonetheless, it was shown that the degree of development is still strongly correlated with Internet usage.
The following statistics were found in the report:
93% of people in high-income nations use the internet.
In low-income nations, just 27% of people have access to the Internet.
35% of people in LDCs (least developed nations) use the internet.
39% of people in landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) have access to the internet.
Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, the director of the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, underlined the need to accelerate development, stating: “The world is inching towards universal access at a time that it should be sprinting.” Our advancements conceal important gaps in the most vulnerable populations around the world, where life is made much more difficult by digital exclusion. In order to achieve widespread and meaningful connectedness, we must step up our efforts to remove obstacles and reaffirm our commitment.
Important Results in 2024 Facts and Figures
Slowly closing gender gap: 70% of males and 65% of women worldwide are online in 2024. Progress towards gender parity has remained consistent, with the exception of LDCs, despite the fact that 189 million more men than women use the Internet.
The gap between urban and rural areas is still present, with 83% of urban residents using the Internet and 48% of rural residents. 1.8 billion of the 2.6 billion offline persons in 2024 will reside in rural regions.
Internet adoption is led by youth: 79% of individuals worldwide between the ages of 15 and 24 use the Internet, which is 13 percentage points more than older groups. But throughout the last four years, the generational divide has been closing.
Affordability is still a problem because fixed broadband costs over a third of the typical monthly salary in low-income nations.
Although more than 80% of people worldwide own a mobile phone, ownership varies from 95% in high-income countries to only 56% in low-income countries, indicating that mobile access is both broad and unequal.
Adoption of 5G varies greatly; in 2024, 5G coverage will reach 51% of the world’s population, although gaps still exist, with high-income countries having 84% coverage and low-income ones having 4%.
The average monthly mobile broadband consumption per subscription in high-income nations is 16.2 GB, which is eight times more than the 2 GB in low-income countries. This indicates that internet traffic is increasing rapidly.
The ITU report emphasises the necessity of stepping up efforts to close the digital divide, guarantee affordability, and provide underprivileged groups with meaningful connectivity.
