Internet penetration worldwide reaches 66%
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According to data presented by the Atlas VPN team, internet penetration worldwide will reach 66% by the end of Q1 2022. North America and Europe remain the only regions with an internet penetration rate of about 90% among their population.
North America leads the world in internet penetration rate with 93.4%. The US and Canada have a well-developed internet infrastructure allowing easy access. In total, North America accommodates over 347 million internet users.
Europe is second in penetration rate as 88.4% of Europeans are internet users. More than 743 million Europeans are connected to the world wide web.
Latin America and the Caribbean region have an internet penetration rate of 80.4%. Despite the high percentage rate, many countries in the Latin American region have uneven coverage, coupled with high data and device costs.
Countries in the Middle East provide internet to 76.4% of their population. Wealthier countries like UAE or Qatar have a penetration rate of nearly 100%. However, war-torn countries such as Syria or Yemen have a shallow internet penetration percentage due to most infrastructure being destroyed.
Oceania and Australia have an internet penetration rate of 70.1%. While Australia and New Zealand accommodate nearly 90% of their population with the internet, many Pacific Islands have not invested in internet infrastructure.
Asia’s internet penetration rate is 64.1%. Even though the percentage is below the world average, Asia has the largest population of nearly 2.8 billion internet users. That makes up about 53% of all internet users worldwide.
Africa has the lowest internet penetration rate as only 43.1% of the population has access to the world wide web. The region accommodates about 601 million internet users.
Internet censorship
Despite the increasing internet penetration rate worldwide, some countries impose internet restrictions.
Chinese state-owned internet service providers block various websites such as Wikipedia, Google, YouTube, etc. Such censorship severely limits the freedom of the press.
After the invasion of Ukraine, similar methods of censorship are being established in Russia as well. The country is seeking to close off its citizens from outside information by banning social media platforms and western media outlets, making it impossible to access them without a VPN.
Says Cybersecurity writer at Atlas VPN Vilius Kardelis:
“Increasing internet penetration rate makes the world more connected. It has become a necessity for most people, which helps communicate and find information like never before. However, the internet must stay out of government control and be open to everyone, so internet users would reap the benefits it brings.”
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