Worldwide internet access

Industry

Many tech companies are focused on creating the next groundbreaking mobile application or web service, but many of us in the developed countries forget that the majority of the world’s population still has very limited, or zero, access to the Internet.

The Internet is estimated to account for more than 3% of GDP in most economies; and initiatives, such as the Facebook-mentored Internet.org, strive to ensure that the right infrastructure and data costs are in place to enable Internet access for everyone.However, with current pricing, infrastructure, broadband speeds, social and political censorship, we are far from having universally equal Internet access. To learn more about the global inequalities of Internet access, check out our latest infographic:

Transcript: 

Internet users by world regions

  • Asia: 45.6%
  • Europe: 18.9%
  • South America: 10.5%
  • Africa: 10.3%
  • North America: 10.1%
  • Mid-East: 3.7%
  • Oceania / Australia: 0.9%

Top 5 countries for broadband speed

  1. South Korea
  2. Ireland
  3. Belgium
  4. Singapore
  5. New Zealand

Top 5 countries for lowest broadband costs per capita income

  1. USA
  2. Uruguay
  3. Great Britain
  4. Ireland
  5. Czech Republic

Did you know: 

In 2014, Denmark was ranked the top country for universal internet access. 

  • Universal access: 100%
  • Relevant content: 92%
  • Freedom and openness: 91%
  • Empowerment: 94%

Most Censored Countries

  1. Eritrea
  2. North Korea
  3. Saudi Arabia
  4. Ethiopia
  5. Azerbaijan
  6. Vietnam
  7. Iran
  8. China
  9. Myanmar
  10. Cuba

More than 1.8 billion Internet users have a very restricted privacy or freedom of expression online.

In 2014, social and political web content was blocked in almost 40% of countries (up from 32% in 2013).

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