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In many advanced economies, the ubiquity of the internet is now a given. It permeates commerce, social interactions, politics, culture and daily life. But this is not the case in all parts of the world. And while internet access continues to grow in poorer nations, there is still a long way to go before the world is completely wired.
Internet access rates vary by country and region
Across the 40 diverse countries surveyed in 2015, a median of 67% say that they either use the internet occasionally or own a smartphone (these respondents are automatically classified as internet users). The highest rates of access are in South Korea (94%), Australia (93%) and Canada (90%), but rates of over 80% also occur in the U.S., UK, Spain, Israel and Germany.
Many large emerging economies have at least 60% of their population using the internet, including 72% in Russia and Turkey, 68% in Malaysia, 65% in China and 60% in Brazil.
Overall, internet rates are lower in poorer countries, concentrated mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, including 39% in Nigeria, 30% in Indonesia and 22% in India.
The lowest access rates are found in some of the poorest countries surveyed, such as Burkina Faso (18%), Pakistan (15%), Uganda (11%) and Ethiopia (8%).
Internet users predominate across regions, except in AfricaRegionally, more people have access to the internet in North America and Europe compared with other parts of the world. Still, many people in the Middle East have internet access, including 86% in Israel, 72% in the Palestinian territories and 67% in Jordan.
In Latin America, a median of 64% have access to the internet, with the highest rates in Chile (78%) and Argentina (71%) and the lowest rates in Mexico (54%) and Peru (52%).
Asian-Pacific nations are quite varied in their internet access rates. As a result of the wide range of national incomes, the region includes the most wired nations in the survey (South Korea and Australia) along with some of the least wired (India and Pakistan).
Many of the least economically developed nations surveyed are in sub-Sa
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