Global Internet Usage: Users Online, People Offline and the Income Divide

ITU's Facts and Figures 2025 estimates that about 6 billion people are using the internet in 2025, about three-quarters of the world's population [1]. This is up from a revised estimate of 5.8 billion in 2024 [1]. In share terms, 74% of the world's population is online in 2025, compared with 71% a year earlier [2].

About 2.2 billion people remain offline, down from a revised 2.3 billion in 2024 [1]. That means more than a quarter of the global population is still not using the internet [2].

The world's online population grew by more than 240 million people in 2025 [1]. Year-on-year growth in the number of users rose slightly to 3.3% in 2025, from 2.9% the year before [2].

For context, an earlier ITU release estimated that the number of people who had used the internet rose from about 4.1 billion in 2019 to 4.9 billion in 2021, when about 37% of the world's population, or 2.9 billion people, had never used it [3]. These earlier figures come from an older edition and are not directly comparable with the revised 2024 and 2025 estimates.

Internet use remains closely linked to the level of development. High-income countries are nearing universal use, with 94% of the population online in 2025, while only 23% of people in low-income countries use the internet [2].

ITU notes that gender and urban-rural divides continue to narrow but endure, and that broadband services remain out of reach for many [4]. ITU also reports that a typical user in a high-income country generates nearly eight times more mobile data than one in a low-income country, a sign that quality of access differs as much as access itself [1].

By ITU convention, universal connectivity means an internet penetration rate of at least 95%, allowing for people who may never want to connect [2].

ITU says progress is slowing and that most of the 2.2 billion people offline live in low- and middle-income countries [4]. It points to speed, reliability, affordability and digital skills as the factors now defining the digital divide [1]. The median price of a data-only mobile broadband basket fell, but access remains unaffordable in around 60% of low- and middle-income countries [1].

Figures come from ITU's Measuring digital development: Facts and Figures 2025, which publishes global, regional and income-group estimates [1][2][4]. An internet user is a person who has used the internet in the reference period, as estimated by ITU. ITU revises earlier years with each edition, so 2024 values here are the revised estimates published in 2025. The 2019 and 2021 values come from an earlier ITU release and are shown only for context [3]. Income groups follow ITU's classification. No FREEE.REPORT calculations are used in this report.