Orange with Media Services, published on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 5:03 p.m.
About 5.3 billion people, or 66% of the world’s population, use the internet today and almost all of those who are not connected are in the poorest countries.
Still non-existent a few decades ago, the mobile phone facilitating Internet access is now in the hands of the greatest number. According to the UN this Wednesday, November 30, nearly three quarters of humans over the age of 10 will have one in 2022.
In contrast, almost a third of the world’s population is still without internet – including mobile phone owners -, particularly in low-income countries, where broadband is often still too expensive.
“Cell phones are the most common gateway to the internet and the ownership rate serves as an indicator of internet availability and access,” writes the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in its annual report on global connectivity. According to figures collected by the ITU, 95% of people in rich countries have a mobile when in underprivileged countries the penetration rate drops to 49%.
Internet access is progressing but less quickly, after the jump recorded during the Covid pandemic and its lockdowns that have forced hundreds of millions of people to work or study online. Today, an estimated 5.3 billion people, or 66% of the world’s population, use the internet. Almost all of those who are not connected are in the poorest countries. This percentage has steadily increased in recent years and has experienced a strong “bump” in 2020, ITU chief economist Thierry Geiger told AFP.
“Digital Darkness”
But there is still a long way to go, because “too many people are still living in digital darkness”, said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who in early 2023 will become the first woman to lead this agency. “Internet access is increasing, but not as quickly and evenly in the world as it should,” she added, in a statement to the report.
A benchmark measure of internet access is the median mobile broadband price, often less expensive than fixed access. These median prices have fallen from 1.9% of gross national income per capita to 1.5% in 2022. But the cost remains still too high for a large number of consumers in low-income countries where a mobile database plan costs 9% of average income.
That’s far more than the percentage paid in wealthy countries for similar services, according to the ITU, which has called on all countries to ensure affordable broadband access, which it defines as costing less than 2% of monthly gross national income per capita. “We must maintain internet accessibility even as the global recession hurts the economic prospects of many countries,” outgoing ITU chief Houlin Zhao said in the statement.
Gender divides
Thierry Geiger points out that even if the cost of connectivity seems to continue to fall, the rise in the price of basic necessities could force many people to disconnect. Even though internet access is increasingly seen as an essential service, “food still prevails”, he said. We will have to wait until next year to see the possible effects of the current crisis.
The persistent digital divide between rich and poor and also a gender divide. While women make up about half of the world’s population, they are some 259 million fewer than men with access to the internet and only 63% of women go online compared to 69% of men, the report says.
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