BDT Director's Corner: Activities

Data released by ITU reveal that in most countries worldwide women are still trailing men in benefiting from the transformational power of digital technologies. 

The Measuring Digital Development: Facts and figures 2019, estimates that over half the total global female population (52 per cent) is still not using the Internet, compared to 42 per cent of all men.  Overall, the proportion of all women using the Internet globally is 48 per cent, against 58 per cent of all men.

Internet use continues to grow globally, with 4.1 billion people now using the Internet, or 53.6% of the global population. An estimated 3.6 billion people remain offline, with the majority of the unconnected living in the Least Developed Countries where an average of just two out of every ten people are online. 

Multi-stakeholder collaboration will be key to making universal and meaningful connectivity a reality for all. It will require targeted efforts to lower the cost of broadband and innovative policies to finance network rollout to unconnected populations.

See the interactive Facts and Figures 2019