Recently, the International Communication Union, a UN agency conducted research on Web usage around the globe. Click here for a PDF of the highlights of its 2016 report based on this research.
Statista has devised an interesting chart from the ICU data. [See below.] And its Felix Richter offered these insights:
“25 years ago, August 23, 1991, a British computer scientist made the World Wide Web available to the public. Tim Berners-Lee, who was then working at CERN, could not have imagined the impact his actions would have on the world over the next two-and-a half decades. Honoring this milestone in the history of the Internet, August 23 has become known as Internaut Day.”
“However, even 25 years after what some call its inception, the World Wide Web is not nearly as universally available as its name suggests. According to the latest estimates by the International Communication Union, a UN agency specializing in information and communication technologies, only 47 in 100 world citizens use the internet these days. While Internet access in regions such as North America and Europe has become a commodity not unlike electricity and running water, people in less-developed regions often still lack access to what has arguably become the most important source of information of our times.”
You will find more statistics at Statista.
Despite what this article states, the number of internet users has increased dramatically in the past two decades. Despite the fact that many people still do not have an internet connection, the number of people who do is still increasing. Technology such as smartphones makes this phenomenon operate even faster. Added to that, the fact that the price/performance of technology is decreasing and increasing exponentially, it’s not unreasonable to hope that someday in the near future, technology will give almost everybody on Earth a voice.