4.021 billion people, which is 53 percent of the total population of the planet. Mobile Internet access technologies are used by 3.722 billion people.
According to research by Hootsuite and We Are Social, service penetration is highest in Northern (94 percent), Western Europe (90 percent) and North America (88 percent). In Central Africa, only 12 percent of the population has access to the Internet. In absolute terms, East Asia (0.947 billion users, 57 percent) and South Asia (0.673 billion, 36 percent) lead.
In Russia, penetration is 76 percent (average 53 percent). Leadership by country belongs to Qatar and the UAE (99 percent). A number of countries (Kuwait, Iceland, Norway, Bahrain, Andorra, Luxembourg and Bermuda (UK Overseas Territory)) achieved 98 percent penetration. Least of all the population have access to the Internet in the DPRK - 0.06 percent.
In Russia, the growth of the Internet user base in 2017 amounted to 4%. The leaders in this indicator were: Mali (+460 percent), Benin (+204 percent) and Sierra Leone (+144 percent). Of the major players, Egypt (+41 percent), Kenya (39 percent) and Saudi Arabia (34 percent) saw the biggest gains.
The highest fixed internet speed is in Singapore (161.2 Mbps), Iceland (145.6 Mbps), Hong Kong (141.6 Mbps) and South Korea (132.5 Mbps). In Russia, this figure is 37.4 Mbps, which is lower than the world average (40.7 Mbps). In the country, the share of unique users of mobile broadband access was 79 percent (on average in the world - 68 percent).
In total, there are 5.135 billion unique mobile subscribers in the world (an annual increase of four percent). In terms of mobile connection speed, the leaders are: Norway (61.2 Mbps), Malta (54.4 Mbps) and the Netherlands (54.2 Mbps). In Russia, the speed of mobile broadband access is 16.7 Mbps, which is lower than the world average (21.3 Mbps).
The share of active Russians using social networks is 47 percent (world average is 42 percent), and the number of such users increased by 15 percent over the year. On average, each user from the Russian Federation spends two hours and 19 minutes on social networks (the leader is the Philippines, three hours and 57 minutes). Instagram penetration in Russia is 20 percent (world average is 11 percent). Whatsapp remains the most popular messenger in the country and the world.
The study was conducted by one of the largest holders of data on the Internet audience in the post-Soviet space -. It used both the company's own data and results from Internet World Stats, TNS Web Index, and GfK.
Despite the rapid growth of the Internet audience in previous years and the high activity of Russian-speaking users in the global network, Internet penetration in Russia now stands at 62% of the country's adult population, or 72.3 million Russians. At the same time, 60 million people go online every day.
The annual increase in Internet users in 2014 was quite high - 6 million people, and the daily audience increased by 6.7 million.
The First Deputy General Director of Rambler & Co considers the growth of the Internet audience in Russia in 2014 to be quite high. “Now the development of broadband Internet access occurs primarily at the expense of small towns and rural areas. The gap between Moscow and St. Petersburg and the provinces, especially in the field of wired broadband access, remains, but it is obvious that it is shrinking. Further growth of the Internet audience in Russia will occur precisely at the expense of small towns,” says Tadevosyan.
Russia loses in terms of Internet penetration to the G8 countries and the Baltic states with their 70-80% level, but at the same time it leads in the rest of the post-Soviet space and among the countries. Russia is still quite a long way from the level of the world leader in the field of Internet penetration - Canada, where 95% of the population is covered by the Internet.
The intensity of penetration of broadband access in the regions of Russia is also constrained by significant differences in the price and speed of access. The price of access between Moscow and the Far East is two times different, while the throughput in the Far East is almost five times less. For 600 rubles. per month there you can get access at a speed of 4 Mbps, while in Moscow and St. Petersburg for 300 rubles. you can count on a speed of 15-20 Mbps.
“In fact, the gap is decreasing - it was even larger,” comments the chief analyst of the Russian Association for Electronic Communications. - But, of course, there are regions with low competition in the field of communication providers and a low number of communication lines (the Far East, Crimea, the Caucasus). In such regions, mobile Internet is beginning to replace the stationary one. It is necessary to fully implement the program to bridge the digital divide in the regions.”
According to an MForum Analytics expert, the gap between Russia and the G8 countries in terms of Internet penetration will decrease over the years, but this problem cannot be solved only through mobile broadband access, since full coverage of 3G / 4G services in Russia is not yet provided. Also, the share of smartphones in the subscriber base is not too high.
“Mobile Internet is still not a full-fledged replacement for the stationary one,” says Karen Kazaryan. - It is not suitable for "heavy" content, and productivity suffers. At the same time, equipment for deploying broadband access is rapidly becoming cheaper, and gigabit Internet technologies are being actively introduced. In essence, everything depends on a favorable climate for investors and the provision of opportunities for equal competition. In the Far East, joint projects with China and Japan are quite possible – they have experience of such projects with neighboring countries.”
Unlike wired broadband access, where Moscow and St. Petersburg are unrivaled in terms of price-quality ratio, the Moscow region is not a leader in the field of mobile Internet and loses in terms of attractiveness of proposals to the Southern, North Caucasus, North-Western and Volga federal districts.
According to Alexei Boyko, this state of affairs is historical, since Moscow has traditionally been the most profitable region for mobile operators, where only two, and then three federal operators operated. The low level of competition made it possible to maintain high prices.
“In the regions, prices for mobile services were driven down by regional operators and the low level of solvency of the population, which fixed their current level. The fixed broadband market in Moscow developed in the conditions of the highest competition, which ensured those results - fast access for a reasonable price,” Boyko says.
At the same time, Boyko noted the growth of mobile Internet users from 56% at the end of 2013 to 68% at the end of 2014. “Every next percentage after 50% is given with great difficulty and costs more and more. The cost is growing exponentially, so in the context of limited coverage of the population and limited investment in the development of networks, this is a good result, ”the expert believes.
The most noticeable disproportion is observed in the field of e-commerce development. The research figures show that 40% of goods from online stores enter Siberia and the Far East through Moscow. Considering that the vast majority of consumer goods are produced in China, one can imagine the trade margin provided by transportation costs.
“Unfortunately, this is due to the peculiarities of the work“, ”Karen Kazaryan comments. “As far as we know, she was negotiating with the post office to speed up the delivery of parcels, so in the future, with such an increase in trade, opening a full-fledged representative office of Alibaba in the Far East looks quite realistic, but so far this is not in Alibaba’s plans.”
Of course, this reduces the purchasing power of the population and the development of demand. This leads to the fact that the assortment in Russian online stores is much poorer than in foreign ones, and their risks are higher. As a result, Russian buyers are increasingly purchasing goods abroad. The number of purchases in Chinese online stores is growing especially fast.
“Every second active online shopper has made at least one purchase in foreign online stores over the past year. Most often - in China, ”the study says.
This means that Russian online retail may face serious problems in the future, because online stores incur significant costs for attracting customers: at the stage of promotion, the cost of acquiring a customer can reach 2-3 amounts of an average bill. If the buyer gets used to buying goods in a foreign online store, then it will be possible to change his habits only with the help of legislative regulation. Attempts at such regulation have already been made.
"If we want to understand the information society, we must measure it. Without measurement, we will not be able to track progress or identify gaps that require our attention."
Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union, Brahima Sanou
Internet audience
“We rank first in Europe today in terms of the number of global network users. There are already more than 90 million of them in Russia.” (from the speech of the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin at the International Cybersecurity Congress in Moscow, 07/06/2018)
18 years and older
On September 17, 2018, the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) conducted a survey about "Do you use the Internet, and if so, how often?"
The share of Internet users in Russia - 81% of citizens. Including 65% go online daily. Among Russians aged 18 to 24, this figure is 97%.
Also, among the most active audience (using the Internet daily) are highly educated (78%) and financially secure (72%) Muscovites and Petersburgers (76%).
1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. The data are weighted by probability of selection and by socio-demographic parameters. For this sample, the maximum size of the error with a probability of 95% does not exceed 2.5%.
According to the Public Opinion Foundation (December 2017 - February 2018), the total number of users (surfed the Web at least once a month) was 83.8 million people (72%). 74.7 million people (63.8%) use the Internet daily.
Data in million people
- General population - 72
- Central Federal District - 72
- Northwestern Federal District - 77
- Southern and North Caucasian Federal District - 71
- Privolzhsky Federal District - 68
- Ural Federal District - 70
- Siberian Federal District - 72
- Far Eastern Federal District - 75
Data in million people
Data in million people
Winter 2017-2018, percentage data
- General population - 64
- Central Federal District - 64
- Northwestern Federal District - 71
- Southern and North Caucasian Federal District - 63
- Privolzhsky Federal District - 60
- Ural Federal District - 62
- Siberian Federal District - 64
- Far Eastern Federal District - 68
Data in million people
Data source: Leaked data from FOMnibus weekly surveys of Russian citizens aged 18 and over. The surveys were conducted from December 2017 to February 2018, 24,000 respondents.
16 years and older
The Russian branch of the research concern GfK (Gesellschaft fur Konsumforschung) Group, on January 15, 2019, published the report "Internet Penetration in Russia".
The audience of Internet users aged 16 years and older was 90 million people (75.4% of the adult population of the country), which is 3 million more than a year ago.
73 million(61% of the adult population) go online on mobile devices.
Of them, 32 million Russians use the Internet only on mobile devices.
13% of Internet traffic in Russia falls on mobile devices (smartphones generate 10% of traffic, tablets - 3%). This is reported by "The World of Apple in one site" with reference to the data of the analytical company StatCounter.
In October 2016, for the first time in history, global mobile internet traffic outpaced desktop traffic. Tablets and smartphones accounted for 51.3% of global Internet traffic, while desktop PCs and laptops accounted for 48.7%.
In 2010, out of 6.8 billion people on earth, 1.9 billion people used the Internet, according to Internet World Stats. The top 10 countries in terms of Internet penetration are dominated by the European Union, including all of Scandinavia. Russia in the overall ranking of Internet powers is in 72nd place - between Iran and French Polynesia, and in terms of the number of Internet users in Europe - in second place after Germany.
According to experts, the most rapid growth in the subscriber base over the past 10 years occurred in Africa (2357%), the Middle East (1825%), and Latin and Central America (1033%).
Shares of regions by number of Internet users
The top 10 countries in terms of Internet penetration (the ratio of the number of Internet users to the population) are noticeably dominated by the European Union, including all of Scandinavia, which belongs to the “welfare states”. Among the Scandinavian countries, the lowest figure was recorded at 85.3% (Finland), and the highest was 97.6% (Iceland).
It is noteworthy that it was in Finland at the end of 2009 that a law was adopted (http://www..shtml?2009/10/16/366029) equating the right to access high-speed Internet to inalienable human rights. And in a number of large cities in Iceland, all residents were provided with widespread access to fiber optic networks back in the mid-2000s (although ADSL connections are popular in the country). In addition, the top ten included Bahrain (88%) and New Zealand (85.4%).
Top 10 countries by number of Internet users, 2010
| № | A country | Number of Internet users (persons), 2010 | Growth 2000-2010 |
| 1 | China | 420 000 000 | 1,766.7 % |
| 2 | USA | 239 232 863 | 151.6 % |
| 3 | Japan | 99 143 700 | 110.6 % |
| 4 | India | 81 000 000 | 1,520.0 % |
| 5 | Brazil | 75 943 600 | 1,418.9 % |
| 6 | Germany | 65 123 800 | 171.3 % |
| 7 | Russia | 59 700 000 | 1,825.8 % |
| 8 | Great Britain | 51 442 100 | 234.0 % |
| 9 | France | 44 625 300 | 425.0 % |
| 10 | Nigeria | 43 982 200 | 21,891.1 % |
The second ten leaders in terms of Internet penetration are mainly developed industrial (Germany, Australia) and post-industrial countries (South Korea, Japan, Singapore). The lower figure, compared to the top 10, is associated with the predominance of older age groups of the population, as well as uneven Internet coverage in their territories.
The largest Internet powers (in terms of the number of active Internet users) - China, the USA, Japan - occupy 89th, 21st and 17th places in the rating, respectively. This is due to both the high cost of services and the specifics of consumption (for example, in China there is censorship, in Japan the cost of laying fiber is high, in the USA a plan for the development of the Internet at the state level throughout the territory has been adopted).
Most Internet users in 2010 (825.1 million) live in Asia, in second place - Europe (475.1 million) and in third - North America (266.2 million).
Internet penetration level by region
| Internet users | Average penetration | |
| Asia | 825 094 396 | 21,5% |
| Europe | 475 069 448 | 58,4% |
| North America | 266 244 500 | 77,4% |
| Latin America | 200 144 290 | 34,8% |
| Africa | 110 931 700 | 10,9% |
| Near East | 63 240 946 | 29,8% |
| Oceania | 21 272 470 | 61,3% |
| Total in the world: | 1 961 997 750 | 28,7% |
Source: CNews Analytics according to Internet World Stats, 2010
The prevailing Internet languages are English (536.6 million), Chinese (444.9 million) and Spanish (153.3 million).
Russia in the overall ranking of Internet powers is in 72nd place (the share of Internet users is 42.8%, located between Iran and French Polynesia). In terms of the number of Internet users in Europe, our country is in second place after Germany. Of the entire post-Soviet space, it is bypassed in this indicator by the Baltic states - Estonia (75.1%), Latvia (67.8%) and Lithuania (59.3%). Among the CIS countries, it overtakes Belarus (46.2%) and Azerbaijan (44.4%). On the contrary, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia lag behind Russia.
Top 100 Internet Penetration Countries 2010
| № | A country | Internet penetration rate (% of population) |
Population (people) | Number of Internet users (persons) |
| 1 | Iceland | 97,6 | 308 910 | 301 600 |
| 2 | Norway | 94,8 | 4 676 305 | 4 431 100 |
| 3 | Sweden | 92,5 | 9 074 055 | 8 397 900 |
| 4 | Greenland | 90,2 | 57 637 | 52 000 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 88,6 | 16 783 092 | 14 872 200 |
| 6 | Bahrain | 88 | 738 004 | 649 300 |
| 7 | Denmark | 86,1 | 5 515 575 | 4 750 500 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 85,4 | 4 213 418 | 3 600 000 |
| 9 | Finland | 85,3 | 5 255 695 | 4 480 900 |
| 10 | Luxembourg | 85,3 | 497 538 | 424 500 |
| 11 | Great Britain | 82,5 | 62 348 447 | 51 442 100 |
| 12 | South Korea | 81,1 | 48 636 068 | 39 440 000 |
| 13 | Brunei | 80,7 | 395 027 | 318 900 |
| 14 | Australia | 80,1 | 21 262 641 | 17 033 826 |
| 15 | Andorra | 79,5 | 84 525 | 67 200 |
| 16 | Bermuda | 79,1 | 68 265 | 54 000 |
| 17 | Germany | 79,1 | 82 282 988 | 65 123 800 |
| 18 | Japan | 78,2 | 126 804 433 | 99 143 700 |
| 19 | Belgium | 77,8 | 10 423 493 | 8 113 200 |
| 20 | Singapore | 77,8 | 4 701 069 | 3 658 400 |
| 21 | Canada | 77,7 | 33 759 742 | 26 224 900 |
| 22 | USA | 77,3 | 310 232 863 | 239 232 863 |
| 23 | Faroe Islands | 76,4 | 49 057 | 37 500 |
| 24 | UAE | 75,9 | 4 975 593 | 3 777 900 |
| 25 | Switzerland | 75,3 | 7 623 423 | 5 739 300 |
| 26 | Monaco | 75,2 | 30 586 | 23 000 |
| 27 | Estonia | 75,1 | 1 291 170 | 969 700 |
| 28 | Austria | 74,8 | 8 214 160 | 6 143 600 |
| 29 | Guernsey and Alderney | 74,6 | 64 775 | 48 300 |
| 30 | Slovakia | 74,3 | 5 470 306 | 4 063 600 |
| 31 | Israel | 71,6 | 7 353 985 | 5 263 146 |
| 32 | Taiwan | 70,1 | 23 024 956 | 16 130 000 |
| 33 | Gibltar Islands | 70 | 28 877 | 20 200 |
| 34 | France | 68,9 | 64 768 389 | 44 625 300 |
| 35 | Hong Kong | 68,8 | 7 089 705 | 4 878 713 |
| 36 | Niue | 68,8 | 1 598 | 1 100 |
| 37 | Latvia | 67,8 | 2 217 969 | 1 503 400 |
| 38 | Ireland | 65,8 | 4 622 917 | 3 042 600 |
| 39 | Liechtenstein | 65,7 | 35 002 | 23 000 |
| 40 | Czech | 65,5 | 10 201 707 | 6 680 800 |
| 41 | Slovenia | 64,8 | 2 003 136 | 1 298 500 |
| 42 | Malaysia | 64,6 | 26 160 256 | 16 902 600 |
| 43 | Argentina | 64,4 | 41 343 201 | 26 614 813 |
| 44 | Spain | 62,6 | 46 505 963 | 29 093 984 |
| 45 | Hungary | 61,8 | 9 992 339 | 6 176 400 |
| 46 | Lithuania | 59,3 | 3 545 319 | 2 103 471 |
| 47 | Malta | 59,1 | 406 771 | 240 600 |
| 48 | Tokelau | 58,4 | 1 371 | 800 |
| 49 | Poland | 58,4 | 38 463 689 | 2 245 000 |
| 50 | Serbia | 55,9 | 7 344 847 | 4 107 000 |
| 51 | San Marino | 54 | 31 477 | 17 000 |
| 52 | Uruguay | 52,8 | 3 510 386 | 1 855 000 |
| 53 | Qatar | 51,8 | 840 926 | 30 000 |
| 54 | Italy | 51,7 | 58 090 681 | 30 026 400 |
| 55 | Macedonia | 51 | 2 072 086 | 1 057 400 |
| 56 | Cook Islands | 50,5 | 11 870 | 6 000 |
| 57 | Guam | 50,4 | 178 430 | 90 000 |
| 58 | Croatia | 50 | 4 486 881 | 2 244 400 |
| 59 | Chile | 50 | 16 746 491 | 8 369 036 |
| 60 | Macau | 49,5 | 567 957 | 280 900 |
| 61 | Colombia | 48,7 | 44 205 293 | 21 529 415 |
| 62 | Portugal | 48,1 | 10 735 765 | 5 168 800 |
| 63 | Bulgaria | 47,5 | 7 148 785 | 3 395 000 |
| 64 | Belarus | 46,2 | 9 612 632 | 4 436 800 |
| 65 | Greece | 46,2 | 10 749 943 | 4 970 700 |
| 66 | Türkiye | 45 | 77 804 122 | 35 000 000 |
| 67 | Azerbaijan | 44,4 | 8 303 512 | 3 689 000 |
| 68 | Costa Rica | 44,3 | 4 516 220 | 2 000 000 |
| 69 | Montenegro | 44,1 | 666 730 | 294 000 |
| 70 | Albania | 43,5 | 2 986 952 | 1 300 000 |
| 71 | Iran | 43,2 | 76 923 300 | 33 200 000 |
| 72 | Russia | 42,8 | 139 390 205 | 59 700 000 |
| 73 | French Polynesia | 41,8 | 287 032 | 120 000 |
| 74 | Oman | 41,7 | 2 967 717 | 1 236 700 |
| 75 | Kyrgyzstan | 39,8 | 5 508 626 | 2 194 400 |
| 76 | Kuwait | 39,4 | 2 789 132 | 1 100 000 |
| 77 | Cyprus | 39,3 | 1 102 677 | 433 800 |
| 78 | Seychelles | 38,4 | 88 340 | 33 900 |
| 79 | Saudi Arabia | 38,1 | 25 731 776 | 9 800 000 |
| 80 | Brazil | 37,8 | 201 103 330 | 75 943 600 |
| 81 | New Caledonia | 37,4 | 227 436 | 85 000 |
| 82 | reunion | 36,5 | 822 986 | 300 000 |
| 83 | Romania | 35,5 | 21 959 278 | 7 786 700 |
| 84 | Tuvalu | 34,8 | 12 373 | 4 300 |
| 85 | Kazakhstan | 34,3 | 15 460 484 | 5 300 000 |
| 86 | Venezuela | 34,2 | 27 223 228 | 9 306 916 |
| 87 | Tunisia | 34 | 10 589 025 | 3 600 000 |
| 88 | Ukraine | 33,7 | 45 415 596 | 15 300 000 |
| 89 | Christmas Islands | 33,1 | 1 402 | 464 |
| 90 | morocco | 33 | 31 627 428 | 10 442 500 |
| 91 | China | 31,6 | 1 330 141 295 | 420 000 000 |
| 92 | Jersey | 31,6 | 93 363 | 29 500 |
| 93 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 31,2 | 4 621 598 | 1 441 000 |
| 94 | Northern Mariana Islands | 31 | 51 484 | 15 980 |
| 95 | Dominican Republic | 30,5 | 9 823 821 | 3 000 000 |
| 96 | Moldova | 30 | 4 317 483 | 1 295 000 |
| 97 | Philippine Islands | 29,7 | 99 900 177 | 29 700 000 |
| 98 | Cape Verde | 29,5 | 508 659 | 150 000 |
| 99 | Nigeria | 28,9 | 152 217 341 | 43 982 200 |
| 100 | Georgia | 28,3 | 4 600 825 | 1 300 000 |
The level of Internet penetration in Russia increased in 2017 from 70.4% to 72.8% among the population 16+, and the mobile Internet audience grew by 20% - from 47% to 56%. In 2015-2016, the reach of the Internet audience remained stable, the growth of the mobile Internet audience was practically the only significant change. This is stated in the analytical company GfK.
By the beginning of 2018, the audience of Internet users in Russia among the population 16+ amounted to 87 million people, which is 3 million more than a year ago.
Internet Penetration Among young people, the level of Internet use reached almost the limit two years ago. Therefore, the growth of the Internet audience in recent years is mainly due to older people, the message on the company's website says. Over the past year, among people aged 55 years and older, the share of Internet users has increased by a quarter, and the share of mobile Internet users has doubled. At the same time, the level of Internet penetration in this segment remains low - only every third (36%) Russian over 55 years old uses the Internet. For comparison, in the age group of 30-54 years, this figure was 83% by the beginning of 2018, and among young people - 98%.
Profile At the end of 2017, the audience of Internet users on mobile devices amounted to 67 million people. The growth of the mobile Internet audience is primarily due to the increase in the penetration of smartphones – at the beginning of 2018, more than half of adult residents of Russia (51.5%) used Internet access from smartphones. The use of tablets has been growing slightly in recent years.
