Global number of online users worldwide 2023, by subregion

As of 2023, Southern Asia accounted for approximately 1.42 billion of the world’s internet users, followed by Eastern Asia with over 1.31 billion. The global digital population in April 2022 amounted to five billion internet users in total.

Internet user growth worldwide

With constantly declining smartphone prices and improvements in digital infrastructure, the increasing connectivity among global online audiences is moving along at a steady pace. Many previously underserviced regions have begun to profit from mobile online connections, leapfrogging the desktop PC development phase and starting out as mobile-first societies. The fastest growing online populations based on relative year-on-year user growth include many African nations, led by the Western Sahara where online audiences grew 364 percent annually. Despite the growing number of internet users in Africa, the continent still lags behind other regions in terms of online adoption. The highest on the continent was Southern Africa with a penetration rate of 68 percent, Middle Africa was ranked last worldwide. The region had an online penetration rate of just 25 percent, highlighting the ongoing struggles for connectivity but also the untapped digital potential within Africa.