ICT
The World in
2011
Facts and Figures
One third of the world’s population is online
45% of Internet users below the age of 25
Users, developed
Share of Internet users in the total population
2006
Using Internet:
18%
2011*
Not using
Internet: 82%
Using Internet:
35%
Developed
China:28%
Developed
Users
China: 37%
India: 6%
Developing
Other
developing
countries: 66%
Total population: 6.5 billion
Developing
Not using
Internet: 65%
India: 10%
Other
developing
countries: 53%
Total population: 7 billion
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
• The world is home to 7 billion people, one third of which are using the Internet. 45% of the world’s
Internet users are below the age of 25.
• Over the last five years, developing countries have increased their share of the world’s total number of
Internet users from 44% in 2006, to 62% in 2011. Today, Internet users in China represent almost 25% of
the world’s total Internet users and 37% of the developing countries’ Internet users.
4.5
Internet
users by age and by development level, 2011*
4.0
• Younger people tend to be more online than
older people, in both developed and developing
countries.
3.5
Billions of people
3.0
2.5
Not using Internet
Using Internet
66 %
64%
2.0
70%
77%
1.5
1.0
29%
0.5
0.0
23%
71%
34%
36%
30%
23%
Under 25
Over 25
77%
Under 25
Over 25
Developed
Under 25
Developing
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
Over 25
World
• In developing countries, 30% of those under
the age of 25 use the Internet, compared to
23% of those 25 years and older.
• At the same time, 70% of the under 25-yearolds — a total of 1.9 billion — are not online
yet: a huge potential if developing countries
can connect schools and increase school
enrolment rates.
The World in 2011 — ICT Facts and Figures
Almost
6 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions
7
6
Active mobile -broadband subscriptions
• With 5.9 billion mobile-cellular
subscriptions, global penetration
reaches 87%, and 79% in the developing world.
Fixed(wired) - broadband subscriptions
Fixed -telephone lines
Internet users
Billions
5
Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions
• Mobile-broadband subscriptions have
grown 45% annually over the last
four years and today there are twice
as many mobile-broadband as fixedbroadband subscriptions.
4
3
2
1
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011*
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
Home ICT access, 2011*
Penetration developed countries
Penetration developing countries
74
74
71
25
1.8 billion households
0.7 billion households with a PC
20
0.6 billion households with Internet
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
• Of 1.8 billion households worldwide, one third have Internet access, compared to only one fifth
five years ago.
• In developing countries, 25% of homes have a computer and 20% have Internet access, compared
to 20% and 13%, respectively, 3 years ago.
The World in 2011 — ICT Facts and Figures
Growth in bandwidth
facilitates broadband uptake
International
Internet
International
Internetbandwidth,
bandwidth,GBit/s
GBit/s
90’000
80’000
World
World
70’000
Developed
Developed
60’000
Developing
Developing
50’000
40’000
30’000
20’000
10’000
0
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011*
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
• International Internet bandwidth, a key factor for providing high-speed Internet access to a growing number
of Internet users has grown exponentially over the last five years, from 11’000 Gbit/s in 2006, to close to
80’000 Gbit/s in 2011.
• Disparities between regions in terms of available Internet bandwidth per Internet user remain, with on
average almost 90’000 bit/s of bandwidth per user in Europe, compared with 2’000 bit/s per user in
Africa.
87’395
International Internet bandwidth (bit/s)
per Internet user, 2011*
International Internet bandwidth (bit/s) per Internet user, 2011*
40’000
35’000
30’000
25’000
20’000
15’000
10’000
5’000
0
Africa
Arab States
Asia & Pacific
CIS
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
Americas
World
Europe
The World in 2011 — ICT Facts and Figures
Active mobile-broadband
subscriptions reach almost 1.2 billion
Availability of 3G Networks
Countries that offer 2G/3G services commercially, mid-2011*
2G2G
only
3G
2G and 3G
90%
45%
2G population coverage
3G population coverage
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
• A total of 159 economies worldwide have launched 3G services commercially and the number of active
mobile-broadband subscriptions has increased to almost 1.2 billion.
• While people in developed countries usually use mobile-broadband networks in addition to a fixedbroadband connection, mobile-broadband is often the only access method available to people in
developing countries.
• The percentage of the population covered by a 2G mobile-cellular network is twice as high as the
population covered by a 3G network. 3G population coverage reached 45% in 2011.
The World in 2011 — ICT Facts and Figures
Europe leads the broadband race
60
Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions, 2011*
Fixed (wired)-broadband
Per 100 inhabitants
50
Active
mobile-broadband
subscriptions, 2011*
subscriptions,
2011*
Active mobile-broadband
subscriptions, 2011*
40
30
20
10
0
Africa
Asia & Pacific Arab States
CIS
World
Note: * Estimate
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
Americas
Europe
Top broadband economies, early 2011
Fixed-broadband
subscriptions per Economy
100 inhabitants
Economy
• Europe leads in broadband connectivity, with
fixed- and mobile-broadband penetration
reaching 26% and 54%, respectively.
Active mobilebroadband
subscriptions per
100 inhabitants*
Netherlands
38.1
Korea (Rep.)
91.0
Switzerland
37.9
Japan
87.8
Denmark
37.7
Sweden
84.0
• A number of developing countries have
been able to leverage mobile-broadband
technologies to overcome infrastructure
barriers and provide high-speed Internet
services to previously unconnected areas. In
Africa, mobile-broadband penetration has
reached 4%, compared with less than 1% for
fixed-broadband penetration.
Korea (Rep.)
35.7
Australia
82.7
Norway
35.3
Finland
78.1
Iceland
34.1
Hong Kong, China
74.5
France
33.9
Portugal
72.5
Luxembourg
33.2
Luxembourg
72.1
Sweden
31.8
Singapore
69.7
Germany
31.7
Austria
67.4
United Kingdom
31.6
New Zealand
66.2
• The world’s top broadband economies are
from Europe and Asia and the Pacific. In
the Republic of Korea mobile-broadband
penetration exceeds 90%.
Belgium
31.5
Kuwait
63.5
Hong Kong, China
29.9
Israel
62.2
Canada
29.8
Brunei Darussalam
61.4
Finland
28.6
Cyprus
61.3
United States
27.6
Italy
59.4
Malta
27.5
United Arab Emirates
58.4
Japan
26.9
Greece
58.3
Estonia
25.1
Saudi Arabia
57.8
Singapore
24.9
Macao, China
56.1
New Zealand
24.9
United Kingdom
56.0
Slovenia
24.2
Spain
55.7
Australia
24.2
Denmark
54.7
Macao, China
24.2
United States
54.0
Austria
23.9
Ireland
47.3
Note: Excludes economies with populations below 100’000
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators databasee
* Data provided by Wireless Intelligence
The World in 2011 — ICT Facts and Figures
Broadband – speed matters
Fixed-broadband subscriptions, by speed, early 2011
• While almost all fixed-broadband connections in the Republic of Korea provide speeds equal to, or
above 10 Mbit/s, broadband users in Ghana, Mongolia, Oman and Venezuela are limited to broadband
speeds below 2 Mbit/s.
• An Internet connection with a speed of 256 kbit/s limits the types of applications and services that
Internet users can enjoy. Service providers for data-intensive services, such as Video-on-Demand,
recommend a minimum speed of 2 Mbit/s.
• Advertised and real speeds can differ substantially. In some countries, regulatory authorities monitor
the speed and quality of broadband services and oblige operators to provide accurate quality-of-service
information to end users.
Korea (Rep.)
Bulgaria
Portugal
United Kingdom
France
Sweden
Denmark
Singapore
United States*††
Czech Republic
Spain
Finland
Georgia
Switzerland
Germany
Slovak Republic
Hungary
Slovenia
Ireland
Estonia
Chile
United Arab Emirates
Turkey
Azerbaijan
Morocco
Serbia†
Oman
Colombia*
Tunisia
Qatar
Jordan
Mongolia
Venezuela
Ghana
≥ 10 Mbit/s
≥10 Mbit/s
≥≥2
2 to
10 Mbit/s
Mbits/s
to <<10
kbit/s to
≥≥256
256 kbit/s
to <2
< 2Mbit/s
Mbit/s
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Note: Refers to advertised speeds. * Data correspond to slightly different speed intervals.
† Breakdown by speed available only for part of the total fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions.
†† June 2010 data.
Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database
100%
The World in 2011 — ICT Facts and Figures
Fixed broadband prices in developing countries
drop by over 50% in just two years
150
130
110
Fixed-broadband sub-basket
Fixed- telephone sub-basket
234.9
52.2%
2008
2008
2010
2010
112.2
-
90
• The steepest price drop occurred in
developing countries, where fixedbroadband prices dropped by 52.2%.
Percentage
change (drop)
between 2008
and 2010
70
50
35.4%
30
10
0
16
14
12
2.4
1.5
Developed countries
Mobile-cellular sub-basket
20082008
14.7 22.0%
2010
2010
11.4
Percentage
change (drop)
between 2008
and 2010
10
8
6
4
Developing countries
Mobile-cellular sub-basket
19.1%
2.4
2
2.0
0
Developed countries
9
8
7
Fixed-telephone sub-basket
2008
2008
6.7%
8.4
7.8
Fixed-telephone sub-basket
2010
2010
6
Percentage
change (drop)
between 2008
and 2010
5
4
3
2
Developing countries
Fixed-telephone sub-basket
9.8%
1.3
• The ITU ICT Price Basket 1 shows that
between 2008 and 2010 ICT services
have become more affordable and
relative prices came down by an
average of 18%, globally.
• In developing countries, mobilecellular
prices,
which
have
substantially dropped over the last
decade, fell by a further 22%. The
2010 mobile-cellular sub-basket
represented on average 11.4% of
monthly GNI per capita, compared
to 2% in developed countries.
• ICT services continue to be
more affordable in high-income
economies and less affordable in
low-income economies. By 2010,
the cost of ICT services averaged
1.5% of GNI per capita in developed
countries, compared with 17% of GNI
per capita in developing countries.
• In 31 countries — all of them highly
industrialized economies — an
entry-level broadband connection
costs on average the equivalent of
1% or less of average monthly GNI
per capita, while in 19 countries
— most of them least developed
countries — a broadband connection
costs on average more than 100% of
monthly GNI per capita.
1.1
1
0
Developed countries
Source: ITU Measuring the Information Society (2011)
Developing countries
1. The ITU ICT Price Basket is a composite measure based
on three tariff sets — fixed-telephone, mobile-cellular and
fixed-broadband Internet services — and computed as a
percentage of average GNI per capita.
The World in 2011 — ICT Facts and Figures
For more information:
ICT Data and Statistics Division
Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations
1211 Geneva 20 - Switzerland
indicators@itu.int
www.itu.int/ict
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Organized by
ICT
9th World Tele
communicatio
In di ca to rs M ee
Mauritius, 7-9
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ti ng
December 2011
T/W TIM11
© 2011, International Telecommunication Union
n