An estimated 4.9 billion people are using the Internet in 2021, according to latest estimates in this 2021 edition of Measuring Digital Development: Facts and figures. That means that roughly 63 per cent of the world’s population is now online – an increase of 17 per cent – with almost 800 million people estimated to have come online since 2019. Internet penetration increased more than 20 per cent on average in Africa, in Asia and the Pacific, and in the UN-designated Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
It is clear that ICTs and the Internet have been vital in helping maintain continuity in business activity, employment, education, provision of basic citizens’ services, entertainment, and socializing. Digital platforms and services have enabled countless innovations that helped mitigate the health, social and economic costs of the tragedy, and build resilience against future crises.
With most of the 17 Global Goals thrust sharply off-track by the force of the emergency, the pandemic has highlighted – and exacerbated – the crippling cost of digital exclusion. Achieving universal meaningful connectivity has become a matter of the utmost urgency if we are to meet the SDGs by the end of the decade.
We cannot close the digital divide if we cannot measure it. And we cannot connect the unconnected if we do not know who they are, where they live, and why they remain offline – nor can we measure the success of our policies to bridge the gap.
Through a set of unique and timely statistics, ITU’s Facts and figures sheds light on the multiple facets and evolving nature of the digital divide and takes stock of the progress towards closing it.
While the access divide is close to being bridged, with 95 per cent of the world’s population now living within range of a mobile broadband network, important blind spots remain. Close to 30 per cent of Africa’s rural population still lacks mobile broadband coverage.
And even though the vast majority of the world’s people could access the Internet through mobile broadband, less than two thirds actually do. The statistics reveal a connectivity ‘grand canyon’ separating the digitally empowered from the digitally excluded, with 96 per cent of the 2.9 billion still offline living in the developing world.
Drilling down to country level also affords a more nuanced picture. Location plays a big part: our figures reveal that the share of Internet users in urban areas is twice as high as in rural areas. There is also a generational gap – 71 per cent of the world’s population aged 15-24 is using the Internet, compared with 57 per cent of all other age groups. And gender remains a factor: globally, 62 per cent of men are using the Internet compared with 57 per cent of women. While that digital gender divide has been narrowing across all regions, women remain digitally marginalized in many of the world’s poorest countries, where online access could potentially have its most powerful effect.
Closing the digital divide will mean much more than simply getting everybody online. As digital platforms and services become ever-more sophisticated, the digital divide is increasingly defined by people’s ability to make meaningful use of connectivity. This ability in turn depends on myriad factors, one of which is, of course, affordability.
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development set a target for 2025 stipulating that entry-level broadband services should cost less than 2 per cent of monthly gross national income per capita. In almost half of the economies for which data could be obtained, that target has not yet been met.
Another important factor is digital skills, with a lack of skills preventing many from getting online at all, while compromising the ability of others to get the most out of devices and services. Poor digital literacy also exposes people to risks linked to the ‘dark side’ of connectivity: cyberattacks, scams, fake news, or harmful content.
With its hard evidence and global reach, ITU’s Facts and figures serves as a powerful advocacy tool in efforts to put digital development at the top of the agenda of policymakers and the global development community.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
