ICT services getting more affordable – but more than half the world’s population still not using the Internet

Geneva, 22 July 2016 – New data released today by ITU, the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology (ICT), show that 3.9 billion people remain cut-off from the vast resources available on the Internet, despite falling prices for ICT services.

ICT Facts & Figures 2016 shows that developing countries now account for the vast majority of Internet users, with 2.5 billion users compared with one billion in developed countries.

But Internet penetration rates tell a different story, with 81% in developed countries, compared with 40% in developing countries and 15% in the Least Developed Countries.

“Access to information and communication technologies, particularly broadband, has the potential to serve as a major accelerator of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Global interconnectedness is rapidly expanding, however more needs to be done to bridge the digital divide and bring the more than half of the global population not using the Internet into the digital economy,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.

For full text see: http://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/Pages/2016-PR30.aspx