Internet penetration rate worldwide 2023, by region

As of January 2023, Northern Europe ranked first by the internet penetration rate, with over 97 percent of its population using the internet. Western Europe followed, with 93.5 percent. Overall, the global average internet penetration rate was roughly 64.4 percent.

Global internet use

The ongoing development of telecommunication networks and infrastructure has directly impacted internet penetration on a global scale. Thanks to advancing mobile technology and the continuous modernization of previously less-developed regions, the number of internet users worldwide has been on the rise in recent years, reaching 5.16 billion in January 2023. In the world-wide-web, Google's Chrome still holds the largest market share for internet browsers, roughly 65.43 percent of the total market as of August 2022, followed by Apple's Safari at 18.69 percent.

Majority of global internet users are in Asia

Asia has the largest internet user base – around an estimated 2.9 billion internet users in this region alone – with East Asia accounting for most of this share. Despite this region's large volume of internet users, Asia is far from being a leader regarding online penetration. Eastern Asia, for instance, had an online penetration rate of 74.3 percent as of July 2022.