Before 2019, 51% of global population will be using the internet: ITU

Geneva DEC 8: More than half of the global population is online. before we enter in 2019, 3.9 billion people or 51.2% of the global population will be using internet, estimated by International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations agency for information and communication technology.

“By the end of 2018, we will suppress the 50/50 milestone for internet use, this represents an important step toward more inclusive global information society” Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of ITU said.

He called for more support to technology ad business innovations, so that the digital revolution leaves no one offline.

According to the group’s estimates, internet adoption has steadily increased globally. Developed and rich countries went from an estimated 51.3 percent internet use in 2005 to 80.9 percent in 2018. Developing nations went from an estimated 7.7 percent to 45.3 percent in the same timeframe.

 

A huge growth comes from mobile internet access, particularly from in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa. The report noted that currently the total number of mobile subscriptions is greater than the entire human population.