Half of humanity is now online. Mirroring global development patterns, there are significant disparities between countries.
The numbers
This year the proportion of the world’s population with access to the internet will cross the halfway mark. 51% of humanity, or 3.7 billion people will be online in 2019. However access varies greatly between developed and the least developed countries. The 47 least developed countries have only about 20% of people online, and it has been reported that access rates go as low as 2%.
The internet plays a key role in the broader economy and societal development of nations. Although adoption rates have been increasing, take up of the internet is now slowing in the developing world. Alongside a growing divide in skills, this will likely contribute to increasing inequality between wealthy and poor regions.
A global program working to address the challenge of connecting the world’s hardest to reach areas is the World Economic Forum’s Internet for All initiative. The initiative aims to accelerate internet adoption for the world’s 4 billion unconnected people through public-private collaboration. Activities focus on alleviating barriers to internet inclusion: infrastructure gaps, limited affordability, poor digital skills and a lack of relevant online content. Country programmes implemented so far include Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda and Argentina (World Economic Forum, 2017, Internet for All Whitepaper).
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