China has the largest number of Internet users, followed by the United States and India, according to the report.

The bank’s findings come at a time when the technology industry — which sometimes tends to see itself as the solver of the world’s greatest problems — has been rushing to expand Internet access through a variety of new means. Google, through its Project Loon, aims to use a constellation of balloons to beam down wireless signals to places that lack connectivity. Facebook has offered a limited sphere of the World Wide Web for users in some developing countries — and in turn, has come under intense criticism, especially in India.

“Countries that are investing in both digital technology and its analog complements will reap significant dividends, while others are likely to fall behind” the report added. “Technology without a strong foundation risks creating divergent economic fortunes, higher inequality and an intrusive state.”

How a society takes advantage of information technology depends on what kind of a society it is, the report concluded.

Women are discouraged from going online in some countries, the report found, and across the countries of South Asia, they were far less likely to own a mobile phone. Those who are illiterate — still 20 percent of the world’s population — cannot take advantage of the Internet at all; and in the developing world, the technology industry employs barely 1 percent of the work force. In rich countries, technology employs 3 to 5 percent of the work force, still a small fraction of total employment.