101+ Internet Usage Statistics (Including Mobile)

If you’re like most people, you probably use the Internet every day of your life. After all, without it, you wouldn’t even be able to read this article right now. 

But how much do you really know about it?

In this post, we’ll share 101+ Internet statistics that will blow your mind. These stats reveal just how big the Internet is and how fast it’s growing. 

Plus, they’ll provide many eye-opening insights into topics such as how people use the Internet around the world, the top websites on the Internet, and much more.

Ready? Let’s dive into it, starting with our top picks.

Key Internet Usage Statistics (Editor’s Top Picks)

• Around 5.3 billion people—63% of the global population—use the Internet.
• China has the most Internet users of any country at 1.05 billion, but Northern Europe has the highest Internet penetration rate of any region at 97.3%
• 60.1% of Internet users say they use it to ‘find information,’ making this the number one use case
• Internet users create around 120 zettabytes of data every year
• Over $6.33 trillion is expected to be spent on the Internet this year, and 20.3% of all retail sales happen on the Internet.
• The average Internet user goes online for 6 hours 41 minutes daily, and the total time spent on the Internet across the world last year was 12.5 trillion hours
• 57% of Internet usage now happens on mobile, and 95% of the online population have accessed the Internet via their mobile device
• The average download speed is 80 Mbps on fixed broadband and 42 Mbps on mobile Internet
• 63.45% of Internet traffic happens on Google Chrome, making it the leading Internet browser
• There are around 1.1 billion websites on the Internet and over 5.5 billion indexed web pages
• Google is the most popular website on the Internet, with 84 billion visits every month and 8.5 billion daily searches.

Global Internet Usage Statistics

In this section, we’ll look at general statistics that reveal how many people use the Internet globally and illustrate how big it really is.

#1. There are around 5.3 billion global Internet users

That’s the earth’s total’ online population’—i.e., the total number of people who have regular access to the Internet—as of October 2023. It’s an astonishing figure.

Given that only a little over 7.8 billion people are alive today, that means that…

#2. 63% of the global population uses the Internet 

Almost two-thirds of the planet is now online. In contrast, only 38% of the global population used the Internet a decade ago (2014). And at the turn of the millennium in 2000, only 7% did so.

#3. 90% of the developed world uses the Internet 

The percentage of people using the Internet is much higher if we only look at countries with ‘developed’ economies. In contrast, if we look specifically at the least developed countries, the percentage of people on the Internet is much lower at just 27%.

#4. 79.9% of the global urban population uses the Internet

Again, the percentage of people with access to the Internet in urban populations around the globe (i.e. cities and towns) is higher than the general figure. Almost four-fifths of those living in urban areas use the Internet, compared to less than half (46.7%) of those living in rural areas.

#5. Internet usage has grown by 3.7% year-over-year

189 million new Internet users went online for the first time in the 12 months running up to October 2023. This represents a global year-on-year growth rate of around 3.7%. And growth is significantly higher than that in some developing economies.

#6. 518,000 people used the Internet for the first time on any given day

Given that 189 million people used the Internet for the first time over 12 months last year, we can calculate that, on average, 518,000 people used the Internet for the first time every day. That works out at around 21,600 people per hour and around 6 people every second. In the time it took you to read this paragraph, dozens of people took their first foray into the World Wide Web.

#7. There will be over 7 billion global Internet users by 2028

According to the latest industry projections, 7.035 billion Internet users will be worldwide as of 2028. That’s over 1.7 billion more Internet users than there are today. This growth will largely be driven by rising Internet penetration in emerging markets/developing economies.

Internet User Demographics

Now that we’ve examined the number of Internet users worldwide, let’s examine specific demographics to determine who those users are. 

#8. 62.8% of the global female population uses the Internet

Interestingly, there seems to be a gender divide when it comes to the use of the Internet. Only 62.8% of female populations worldwide use the Internet, whereas…

#9. 68.6% of the global male population uses the Internet 

So, it looks like men are more likely to use the Internet than women, at least globally. Moreover, men spend longer on the Internet, too, accounting for 77% of online time.

The reason for this digital gender gap isn’t clear, but potential reasons put forth by researchers include the masculinization of computer culture and the fact that men may have easier access to Internet technologies in certain regions due to more general gender inequalities.

#10. 33.8% of global Internet users are 25-34 years old

25 to 34 seems to be the largest age bracket amongst Internet users, making up over a third of the total. A further 22.8% of Internet users are aged 18 to 24, meaning that overall, over half of all Internet users are under 35. 

#11. Only 5.5% of global Internet users are 65+ years old

Internet use seems to negatively correlate with age, with 65+ being the smallest age bracket and accounting for just 5.5% of global Internet users. As you might expect, the next smallest age brackets amongst Internet users are 55-64 (7.3%), 45-54 (11.9%), and 35-44 (18.6%) in that order.

#12. China has 1.05 billion Internet users (the most in the world)

China ranks top of the list of countries with the most Internet users, with an online population of a little over a billion. This isn’t all that surprising given that China is the second most populated country on earth after India, with a population of over 1.4 billion.

However, it should be noted that while China might come out on top in raw Internet user numbers, its Internet penetration rate is less impressive. Just 76% of China’s population uses the Internet, which is significantly lower than most countries in Europe and North America.

#13. India has 692 million Internet users 

This makes India second only to China in total number of Internet users. But again, as India is the most populated country on earth, its Internet penetration rate is actually very low. Just 46% of Indian citizens use the Internet.

#14. The United States has over 311 million Internet users

The US ranks third by total number of Internet users but has a significantly higher Internet penetration rate than India and China. Around 92% of US citizens use the Internet—the vast majority.

#15. North Korea has the lowest penetration rate of any country at nearly 0%

Over 99% of North Koreans have no access to the Internet. South Sudan comes a close second, with 92.4% of the population having no Internet access. Other countries that rank in the bottom 5 by Internet penetration rate include Somalia (10.5%), Central African Republic (10.6%), and Burundi (10.9%).

#16. Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have the highest Internet penetration rates of any country at over 99%

All of the above record an Internet penetration rate of close to 100%, which means almost everyone in these countries is online.

#17. Northern Europe has the highest Internet penetration rate of any region

If we zoom out a little and look at region rather than country, Northern Europe comes out on top. 97.3% of people in Northern Europe use the Internet, and Western Europe came a close second at 93.7%. North America ranked third at 92%.

#18. Eastern Africa has the lowest Internet penetration rate of any region

Just 23.9% of people in East Africa use the Internet—that’s less than a quarter of those living in the region. Middle Africa and Western Africa rounded out the bottom three in the table, with 28.4% and 48% penetration rates, respectively. 

Internet Activity Statistics

Next, we’re going to look at some Internet statistics that tell us more about the ways in which people use the Internet, including what they use it for and the online activities they do.

#19. 60.1% of people use the Internet to find information

The number one reason people use the Internet is to find information, per a recent survey from the second quarter of 2023. That might include making a Google search, reading a blog post, etc.

#20. 55.9% of people use the Internet to stay in touch with family and friends

Staying in touch with the people we love is the second top reason people use the Internet. That might include using a social media platform to connect with others, sending online messages, etc.

#21. 51.8% of people use the Internet to stay up-to-date on the latest news 

Just over half of surveyed respondents said they use the Internet to read up on the latest news and events, making this the third top use case.

#22. 51.1% of people use the Internet to watch video content

That includes things like TV shows, movies, reels/shorts, YouTube videos, etc. Given the meteoric growth of video content in recent years, it makes sense that this would be the fourth top use case. I expect this one might take the number one spot in the future.

#23. 49% of people use the Internet to research how to do things

The fifth most popular reason people use the Internet per the same survey is to ‘research how to do things,’ with 49% of people offering that answer. 

Other reasons people use the Internet include finding new ideas/inspiration (45.4%), listening to music (44.4%), researching products/brands (43.6%), general browsing (42.3%), education (39%), researching destinations (37.5%), researching health issues/healthcare products (35.2%), managing finances (33.6%), business-related research (29.7%), and gaming (28.8%).

#24. Music videos are the most popular type of video content that Internet users watch

Remember how we said that 51.1% of people watch video content on the Internet? Well, music videos seem to be particularly popular, with 49.4% of survey respondents saying they watch them. 

Other popular types of video content that Internet users watch include comedy/meme/viral videos (35.3%), tutorials (26.4%), livestreams (27.6%), product reviews (25%), gaming videos (23.1%), and more.

#25. Around 241 million emails are sent over the Internet every minute

Another thing that people do on the Internet is send emails. A lot of emails. To be exact, 241 million every single minute, or around 333 billion per day. 

Here are some other things that happen every minute on the Internet: $398 million is traded in treasury bonds, 41.6 million messages are sent on WhatsApp, 6.3 million Google searches are made, 4 million Facebook posts are liked, and $455,000 is spent on Amazon.

#26. Around 120 zettabytes of data are ‘created’ on the Internet every year

If you’re wondering what a zettabyte is, it’s a mind-bogglingly large figure equivalent to 1 trillion GB. What’s even more interesting is that it’s estimated that 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years alone.

Note: By ‘created,’ we mean any Internet data that has been generated, captured, copied, or consumed.

#27. Video accounts for 53.72% of all data traffic

Over half of all the data traffic that flows across the Internet goes to video content like TikTok clips, YouTube videos, Netflix, etc.

Social media accounts for a further 12.69% of data traffic, gaming for 9.86%, web browsing for 5.67%, and messaging for 5.35%.

Internet Economic Statistics

Next, we’ll examine some Internet statistics related to the economy. These include stats about how much the Internet is ‘worth,’ how much Internet users spend, etc.

#28. Internet users are expected to spend $6.33 trillion online this year

That’s the value of total global ecommerce sales expected in 2024 (in USD), according to some of the latest projections.

#29. The average Internet user spends $837 on ecommerce yearly

That’s a lot of cash. And if you think about how many people use the Internet, you can see why the ecommerce market is so huge.

#30. 56.5% of Internet users purchase a product or service online every week

According to the latest data, over half of the online population aged 16 to 64 make a purchase every week. Also, 27.9% of Internet users order groceries online weekly, 12.4% buy second-hand items, 21.2% use online comparison services, and 16% use a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service.

#31. 20.3% of all retail sales happen on the Internet 

And that figure is still growing. By 2027, close to a quarter of all global retail sales are expected to happen online.

#31 The total value of the Internet is at least $8 trillion a year in the US (but likely much more)

To be honest, that’s a very conservative estimate. The trouble with putting a monetary value on the Internet is that the Internet is free but also priceless. 

For example, the value of the Internet industry (i.e. servers, cables, ads, etc.) is $2.1 trillion. But that doesn’t take into account all the different industries that rely on the Internet. Without the Internet, we would have no e-commerce, Uber, or Spotify. The Internet, then, is worth much more than the sum of its parts.

Some economists arrived at the figure of $8 trillion/year (in the US alone) by asking survey respondents how much money they’d want in exchange for giving up different Internet services. They then used this figure to determine its true value. 

#32 Around 163 million freelancers work online through labor platforms

The Internet is also changing the way people around the globe work. There are around 163 million freelancers registered on sites like Upwork, mTurk, etc., and many more remote workers in regular employment who rely on the Internet to connect.

#33. The Internet of Things’ total annual revenue will be around 336 billion this year

That’s according to industry forecasts. If you didn’t already know, the Internet of Things (IoT) refers to interconnected devices that communicate with each other over the Internet. Think smart home appliances, lights, smart TVs, refrigerators, etc.

Time Spent On the Internet

Have you ever wondered how long people spend on the Internet? Let’s examine some Internet statistics that shed light on that question.

#33. The world’s Internet users were estimated to spend over 12.5 trillion hours online last year alone.

Pretty crazy, right? And if we drill down a little further, we find that…

#34. The average Internet user spends 6 hours 41 minutes online every day

That was the average for the second quarter of 2023, but it’s been hovering around that ballpark consistently for the last five years. Of that 6 hours, people spend around 151 minutes per day on social media.

#35. People in South Africa spend more time on the Internet per day than any other country

South Africans seemingly love the Internet, spending 9 hours 29 minutes online daily, almost 3 hours more than the global average.

Brazil also spends a lot of time online, with users in the country browsing for around 9 hours and 25 minutes daily. 

#36. People in Japan spend the least time on the Internet compared to other countries

On average, Japanese Internet users spend fewer than four hours a day on the Internet. That’s more than 2 hours and 40 minutes less than the global average.

#37. Female 16-to-24-year-olds spend the most time online

They spend 7 hours 36 minutes daily, on average, which is more than any other demographic group. Male users in the same age range spend 7 hours 1 minute on average.

#38. Internet users aged 55 to 64 spend the least time online

Again, age seems to correlate negatively with time spent on the Internet. Those aged 55 to 64 spend the least amount of time online of any age bracket: 5 hours 18 minutes daily, on average.

Mobile Internet Usage Statistics

One of the biggest trends of the last couple of decades has been the shift to mobile. Here are some Internet statistics about mobile users.

#39. 57% of Internet usage now happens on mobile

As of Q2 2023, 57% of total daily time spent on the Internet happened via mobile devices. The other 43% of time spent on the Internet happened on devices like desktop PCs and laptops. 

Interestingly, the picture was very different a decade ago. At the end of 2023, less than a third (33.2%) of time spent on the Internet happened on mobile.

Note: The share of Internet traffic on mobile vs desktop devices varies substantially from region to region. For example, 74% of website page views in Africa happen on mobile, compared to 46.9% in North America.

#40. The global mobile Internet penetration rate is around 55%

Just a little over half the global population has access to mobile Internet connectivity. Interestingly, that’s around 8% less than the general Internet penetration rate we looked at at the start of this post. 

#41. Mobile Internet penetration is highest in Europe at 85%

A greater percentage of Europeans use the Internet on their mobile than in any other region, but North America comes a close second at 83%.

#42. Mobile Internet penetration is lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa at 23%

Less than a quarter of people in Sub-Saharan Africa use mobile Internet. However, the region also has a very high usage gap of around 60%. 

The usage gap refers to the share of the population for whom mobile data networks are available but who nonetheless can’t access mobile Internet due to other barriers, like affordability.

#43. There were around 257 million mobile app downloads globally last year

That’s only 2 million more than there were in 2022, 255 million. However, there are 117 million more app downloads than there were in 2016. Taken together, these stats suggest that while the mobile app market grew rapidly, it may finally be beginning to level out. 

Internet Connection Statistics

How do people connect to the Internet around the world? And what’s the average Internet speed? Here are some more Internet statistics that shed light on these questions.

#44. There are around 1.4 billion fixed broadband subscriptions globally.

That’s as of 2022, and the number of fixed broadband subscriptions has increased steadily yearly. 

Note: By ‘fixed broadband,’ we’re talking about subscriptions to the high-speed public Internet in fixed locations like home residences and business premises.

#45. There are around 6.9 billion active mobile broadband subscriptions globally

That’s almost 5x as many as fixed broadband. And interestingly, it’s also more than the total number of Internet users.

Why is it so much more popular than fixed broadband? Well, price may be a factor. Mobile broadband is almost 3x cheaper than fixed wireless Internet. 

Mobile broadband subscriptions are also more widely available in certain regions than fixed broadband. And, of course, the increasing use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets to access the Internet has also driven up demand.

Note: By mobile broadband subscriptions, we’re talking about Internet access through your mobile network, i.e., 3G or 4G. 

#46. There are over 3.9 billion mobile broadband subscriptions reported in the Asia-Pacific region…

This is higher than any other region. The Americas comes second with over 1.1 billion mobile broadband subscriptions.

#47. …and over 784 million fixed broadband subscriptions

Again, this is more than any other region. In comparison, there are over 262 million fixed broadband subscriptions in the Americas.

#48. The average download speed for fixed broadband Internet is 80.12 Mbps

Fixed broadband has significantly higher average download speeds than mobile Internet. The tradeoff, of course, is that you can only use fixed broadband in one location. 

At these speeds, you could download a 3GB movie in around 37 minutes.

#49. The average download speed for mobile Internet is 42.07 Mbps

That’s just a little over half the average speed of fixed broadband. At these speeds, you could download a 3GB movie in around 1 hour and 11 minutes.

#50. The average upload speed for fixed broadband Internet is 35.13 Mbps

Upload speeds tend to be slower than download speeds, which is why the average upload speed for fixed broadband Internet is just 35 Mbps. The reason for this is that Internet users tend to download content much more frequently than they upload it, so Internet service providers prioritize faster download speeds.

#51. The average upload speed for mobile Internet is 10.33 Mbps

Again, mobile connections lag behind fixed broadband when it comes to upload speeds. The average mobile Internet upload speed is just 10.33 Mbps—that’s 3x slower than on fixed broadband.

#52. Singapore has the fastest average fixed broadband Internet speed of any country

Internet users with fixed broadband in Singapore enjoy lightning-fast Internet speeds of around 242 Mbps. That’s around 3x faster than the global average. 

The top five countries by fixed broadband speed after Singapore are Chile (222.5 Mbps), UAE (216.8 Mbps), China (215.8 Mbps), and Hong Kong (205.2 Mbps).

#53. Qatar has the fastest average mobile Internet speed of any country

Singapore might win regarding fixed broadband, but Qatar comes out on top for mobile Internet. Qataris enjoy average mobile Internet speeds of 189.98 Mbps, which is over 4x faster than the global average. 

The rest of the top five countries by mobile Internet speed after Qatar are UAE (175.3 Mbps), Macau (171.7 Mbps), Kuwait (139 Mbps), and Norway (131.2 Mbps)

Internet Access Statistics

Next, we’ll look at some statistics about the devices and browsers people use to access the Internet.

#54. 95% of the world’s online population have used their mobile phone to access the Internet

According to the latest data, the vast majority (95%) of active Internet users browse the web from their mobile devices at least some of the time (even if they more commonly use a desktop). To be more specific, 93.4% use smartphones to access the Internet, while 4.9% use feature phones.

#55. 62.9% of the world’s online population have used their laptop or desktop to access the Internet

That’s significantly less than mobile, and that’s probably because globally, more people have smartphones than laptops or desktop PCs.

What’s more, only 29.2% of the world’s online popular sometimes use their work laptop/desktop to access the Internet, whereas 54.5% sometimes use their personal laptop/desktop.

#56. 27.6% of the world’s online population have used their tablet to access the Internet

By tablets, we’re talking about devices like iPads and Galaxy Tabs—handheld devices that are somewhere between a mobile phone and a laptop. A little over a quarter of Internet users have used a tablet to go online.

#57. 31.3% of the world’s online population sometimes use their connected television to access the Internet

As this statistic shows, smart TVs are increasingly used to access the Internet. More people now use their TVs to go online than tablets.

#58. 17.7% of the world’s online population have used a smart home device to access the Internet

That’s up 22.9% year-over-year, thanks to the rapid growth of smart home technology.

#59. 11.7% of the world’s online population has used a games console to access the Internet

Modern game consoles like PS5, Xbox One, and Switch come loaded with Internet browsers, which is why over a tenth of Internet users use their consoles to go online at least some of the time.

#60. 63.45% of Internet traffic happens on Google Chrome

The way most people access the Internet is through a web browser. And when it comes to web browsers, none is as widely used as Google Chrome. It’s the market leader by a large margin, accounting for 63.45% of all web traffic.

However, it’s worth noting that that’s actually down 3.4% YOY, suggesting that Chrome’s market monopoly may be weakening.

#61. 19.91% of Internet traffic happens on Safari

Safari is Chrome’s biggest competitor, accounting for around a fifth of all web traffic. That’s still a long way off Chrome, but keep in mind that Safari is still growing, with its market share up by 6.6% YOY.

#62. 5.29% of web traffic happens on Microsoft Edge

Despite the fact that Microsoft Edge comes preinstalled as the default browser on most Windows devices, it accounts for only 5.29% of web traffic, making it the third most used browser. But keep in mind that Microsoft Edge is growing fast, with usage up 22.2% YOY.

#63. 3.03% of web traffic happens on Firefox

Firefox ranks fourth in the list of most used web browsers, with just 3.03% of the share of Internet traffic. That’s also down by 3.8% year-over-year, suggesting that Firefox may have had its day.

#64. 2.91% of web traffic happens on Opera

Opera is the fifth most popular Internet browser, with 2.91% of the market share. That’s up by 28.8% year-over-year, but Opera has a long way to go to catch up to its biggest competitors.

Internet Search Engine Statistics

Search engines are the backbone of the Internet. They’re how many users navigate the web and find information. With that in mind, here are some interesting Internet statistics about search engines.

#65. There are around 8.5 billion Google searches on the Internet every day

That works out at around 99k Google search queries per second. As the leading search engine, Google handles the vast majority of Internet searches.

#66. 91.58% of search engine referrals come from Google

‘Referrals’ means the source from which the website traffic originated (i.e., was referred). In other words, 91.58% of website visitors who click on a website link after searching for something online start their journey on Google.

#67. 3.01% of search engine referrals come from Bing

Bing is probably Google’s biggest search competitor, but it only accounts for 3% of search engine referrals. This shows just how huge Google’s market monopoly is.

#68. Other search engines account for only a little over 5% of total referrals

Between them, Google and Bing account for almost 95% of search engine referrals. The remaining 5% comes from smaller search engines, including Yandex (1.81%), Yahoo! (1.24%), Baidu (1%), and DuckDuckGo (0.58%).

#69. 20% of Internet users use voice assistants to search the web

The way people use the Internet is changing all the time. And in recent years, one of the most notable changes has been the shift to voice search. Around a fifth of people now use voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, etc., to search the web for information. 

More people use voice assistants to search the web in India than any other country at 26.8%. On the other end of the spectrum, only 3.3% of people in Hungary use voice assistants for Internet searches.

#70. 26.7% of Internet users use image recognition tools to search the web

Another shift we’ve seen in recent years is the increasing use of visual search, or image recognition tools, to search the web. The most popular example of this is Google Lens.

Globally, over a quarter of Internet users report using image recognition tools on mobile. The use of Internet visual search tools is highest in Colombia, with 49.6% of Internet users in the country using them. 

#71. The most popular Internet search query is ‘Google’

Google is the most used search engine on the Internet by far. And oddly, the most popular search query on Google is for ‘Google’ itself. The rest of the top 5 search queries include Weather, YouTube, Facebook, and IPL.

Internet Website Statistics

In this section, we’ll look at some statistics that tell us more about the websites that make up the Internet, including how many there are in total and the most popular websites by traffic and users.

#72. There are around 1.09 billion websites on the Internet

Of these, around 189 million are active, while the rest are inactive. The number of websites on the Internet has been above a billion since 2016, but the exact figure fluctuates up and down yearly, with new websites being added and old ones being removed all the time.

#73. There are over 5.5 billion website pages on the Internet

There are around 5x as many website pages as websites, based on estimations of the number of pages indexed by Google, Bing, and Yahoo Search. However, this is likely an underestimation as the researchers only counted indexed pages.

#74. 55.6% of all websites on the Internet are in English

Unsurprisingly, given that it’s the most widely spoken language in the world, over half of all websites on the Internet are written in English. Russian is the next most popular language on the Internet, featuring on 5% of all websites. Spanish comes a close third at 4.9%, German fourth at 4.3%, French fifth at 4.2%, and Japanese sixth at 3.6%.

#75. There are over 718.7 million registered domain names on the Internet

According to Domain Name Stat, over 718.7 million domain names are registered on the Internet. Domain names are the Internet addresses websites live at—the strings users type into their URL to visit.

#76. 36.35% of registered domains are for ‘.com’ websites

.com is the most popular TLD (top-level domain) on the Internet by a large margin, with over a third of registered domains using it. The second most popular is .cn with 4.34%, the third is .tk with 3.83%, the fourth de with 3.52%, the fifth .uk with 3.13%, and the sixth .net with 3.1%.

#77. GoDaddy is the top domain registrar with 11.74% of the market share

Domain name registrars are the companies that handle the registration of domain names and the assignment of IP addresses. More than any other provider, 11.74% of all registered domains are done through GoDaddy. 

NameCheap is the second most popular domain name registrar, with 2.83% of the market share, followed by Tucows Domains, third at 1.73%, Squarespace Domains, fourth at 1.44%, and IONOS, fifth at 0.85%.

#78. Over 252,000 new websites are added to the Internet daily

That’s right, the Internet grows by over a quarter of a million sites every single day. That works out at roughly 3 new websites every second. 

#79. 43.1% of all websites on the Internet are built on WordPress

WordPress is the most popular CMS (content management system) by a large margin. It has 62.8% of the market share and is not far short of half of all websites on the Internet being built on it.

A further 31.3% of websites are built on unknown CMS applications, 4.2% are built on Shopify, 2.6% on Wix, 2.1% on Squarespace, and 1.7% on Joomla.

#80. The first ever website on the Internet was info.cern.ch

It was dedicated to the World Wide Web project and hosted on Berners-Lee’s NeXT computer. Amazingly, you can still access it today (it was restored in 2013) if you visit that URL.

#81. The official birthday of the Internet is January 1, 1983

This was when the Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) was first established, which is why it’s considered the Internet’s official birthday. 

People had been working on ‘the Internet’ before that date (they started way back in the 1960s). But before January 1, 1983, the different computer networks that made up the Internet didn’t have a standard way to communicate with each other.

Most Popular Websites

#82. Google is the most popular website on the Internet, with over 84B monthly visits

According to data from Similarweb, Google.com had 84.2 billion visits last month alone (at the time of writing). This makes it the number one website by website traffic.

#83. YouTube is the second most popular website on the Internet, with over 33B monthly visits

While 33.6 billion visits in a single month is unbelievably impressive, it’s still less than half that of Google, which shows just how much the search engine dominates the Internet.

#84. Facebook has the third highest website traffic on the Internet with over 16B monthly visits.

Internet users opened Facebook over 16.6 billion times last month (at the time of writing), per data from Similarweb. This makes it the number one social media network by visitors and the third most visited site on the web.

#85. YouTube is the most popular website by time per visit

Google might get the most visits every month, but if we look at the time each user spends on the website, it’s YouTube that comes out on top. YouTube visitors spend around 36 minutes and 4 seconds on the site each time they open it. In comparison, visitors only spend around 21.5 minutes on Google on average.

#86. Facebook is the most popular social network on the Internet, with over 3 billion users

Despite the rapid rise of competitor platforms like TikTok, Facebook still comes out on top with 3,030 million monthly active users (MAUs). YouTube ranks in second place with 2.49 billion MAUs, and WhatsApp/Instagram ranks joint third place, each with around 2 billion social media users.

#87. 95% of Internet users have visited/used chat or messaging websites in the past month

This makes chat and messaging platforms the #1 type of online website/app that Internet users use. 

#88. 94.5% of Internet users have visited/used social networks in the past month

Social networks come a very close second to chat/messaging websites. This makes sense, given that there’s a significant overlap between the two (if you use Facebook, you probably also use Messenger, for example).

#89. 80.7% of Internet users have used a search engine or web portal in the past month

That’s not as much as social networks and messaging apps, but it’s still a huge chunk of the online population/ 

#90. 74.7% of Internet users have visited a shopping, auction, or classifieds website in the past month

Around three-quarters of the online population visits sites like Amazon or Craigslist every month, making this the third most popular type of website/app.

#91. 56.2% of Internet users have visited/used a maps-, parking-, or location-based website in the past month.

Location-based websites are the fourth most popular type of website/app, with over half of all surveyed respondents reporting using them in the last month. Other popular types of websites visited and apps used include email (49.6%), music (47.3%), weather (41.6%), entertainment (40.3%), news (40.1%), and games (31.9%).

Internet Freedom and Privacy Statistics

How ‘free’ is the Internet, and what risks does it pose to user privacy? Let’s examine some more Internet statistics to find out.

#92. Iceland is the global leader when it comes to ‘Internet freedom’

The Freedom House Index scores countries on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free) based on various factors, including limits on Internet content, Internet access obstacles, user rights violations, etc. Iceland scored 95 index points, making it the country with the ‘freest’ Internet in the world.

#93. China has the lowest Internet freedom in the world

China ranked bottom of the Freedom House Index, with a score of just 10 index points (out of 100). The reason for this low score is China’s excessive, heavy-handed approach to Internet censorship and surveillance.

Websites like Google, YouTube, Facebook, and many others are blocked by China’s so-called ‘Great Firewall’. It also ranks as the most ‘surveilled’ country worldwide, with almost the entire population affected by Internet surveillance.

#94. Global Internet restrictions had an economic impact of over $23.7B in one year

Restricting global Internet access is expensive. In 2022, the economic impact of Internet shutdowns was estimated to be over $23.7 billion. Most of those financial losses resulted from Internet shutdowns in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

#95. Around 39% of the global Internet user base has experienced cybercrime

Cybercrime includes phishing, scamming, hacking, and identity theft. Globally, over a third of Internet users report being victims of cybercrime. In the US, that figure rises to 49%. It’s even higher in India, at 68%. Japan has the lowest rate of cybercrime, at just 21%.

#96. 57% of surveyed Internet users say they find it impossible to protect their online privacy

Most Internet users seem to be pretty pessimistic when it comes to protecting their online privacy—and it’s easy to see why.

Some experts blame ‘surveillance capitalism’ for putting Internet users under near-constant surveillance as they browse the web. Their data is gathered by the websites they visit, the companies they shop with, and the ISPs they use.

#97. 63% of surveyed Internet users are happy to sacrifice online privacy for convenience

While most Internet users believe they can’t protect their online privacy completely, it’s also true that most people don’t see that as a big deal. In fact, almost two-thirds of Internet users say they’d gladly accept certain risks to their online privacy if it made their lives more convenient.

#98. 70% of Internet users have taken steps to protect their online privacy

While the majority of Internet users don’t seem overly concerned with online privacy, they’re not completely apathetic either. According to a recent global survey, 70% have still taken some action to protect their privacy as they browse the Internet. And 83% of Internet users across all countries said they’d like to do more to protect their privacy.

#99. 36% have used online parental controls to protect their privacy

This is the most common measure users take to protect their online privacy. Additionally, 30% have enabled multi-factor authentication, 28% have changed their default privacy settings on devices, 27% have used an identity theft protection service, 25% have disabled third-party cookies, and 18% have used a VPN.

#100. 68% of Internet users say they feel more vulnerable to online identity theft now than they did a few years ago

A further 63% say they’re very worried their identity will be stolen, and 49% say they expect their identity will be stolen at some point. However, 53% say the steps they currently take are enough to protect themselves from identity theft.

#101. 76% of adults in the US say they understand how Internet cookies work

The debate around Internet privacy often centers around cookies—small blocks of data placed on your device by websites to gather data. According to a recent survey of adults in the US, 49% of people’ somewhat understand’ how cookies work, and 28% ‘completely understand’ how they work. Only 24% say they don’t understand Internet cookies at all.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

How many people use the Internet?

Around 5.3 billion people use the Internet, which is around 63% of the global population.

How long do people spend on the Internet?

The average person spends 6 hours and 41 minutes online, but that figure varies between countries and demographic groups.

Who invented the Internet?

Lots of people were involved in the invention and development of the Internet.

Computer scientists Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn are widely credited with inventing the TCP/IP—the system commonly referred to as the Internet—while Tim Berners-Lee is considered the inventor of the World Wide Web.

When was the Internet invented?

The best answer for this is January 1, 1983, as that’s the date the TCP/IP was established and is widely considered the birthdate of the Internet. However, it could be argued that it began working on the concept of the Internet in the 1960s.

Is Internet use growing?

Yes, Internet use is still on the rise. The number of Internet users globally increased by 3.7% year-over-year in 2023, and it’s expected to grow to over 7 billion users by 2028.

Is the Internet available in every country?

The Internet is available in every country on earth. However, in North Korea, the number of Internet users is estimated to be only a few thousand (less than 1% of the population). In many countries, the government imposes severe restrictions on Internet access.

Sources: CERN, Clicta Digital, Datareportal, Domainnamestat, Exploding Topics1,Exploding Topics2, Insider Intelligence, INTHEBLACK, Liebertpub, Netcraft, Our World In Data1, Our World In Data2, Siteefy, SSRN, Statcounter, Statista1, Statista2, Statista3, Statista4, The World Bank1, The World Bank2, USG, WorldWideWebSize, W3techs