The video chart above shows the stunning growth in both the total number of internet users between 1900 and 2019 and which countries had the largest total internet population.
In 1990, things looked rather different from today. Here are the top 10 countries and the number of users per country:
- United States: 1,981,674
- Canada: 99,970
- Australia: 99,709
- Germany: 99,604
- Sweden: 50,050
- Netherlands: 50,043
- UK: 49,953
- Switzerland: 39,763
- France: 30,063
- Norway: 30,041
By 2019 both the mix of countries and total number of users have changed dramatically.
- China: 840,080,566 (58.80%)
- India: 627,000,000 (46.83%)
- United States: 244,090,854 (75.23%)
- Brazil: 141,206,801 (67.47%)
- Japan: 115,845,120 (90.87%)
- Russia: 109,446,612 (76.01%)
- Indonesia: 85,242,816 (32.29%)
- Mexico: 82,470,752 (63.85%)
- Germany: 69,304,405 (84.40%)
- Philippines: 63,003,313 (60.05%)
Only the US and Germany appear on both lists. And 119 countries now have more internet users than the US did in 1990. India’s rise is perhaps the most surprising and has been attributed to the Jio effect.
And in case you’re wondering on a per capita basis here are the most and least connected countries in 2019:
Most Connected Countries:
- Andorra – 98.87%
- Bermuda – 98.37%
- Iceland – 98.26%
- Liechtenstein – 98.10%
- Kuwait – 98.00%
- Luxembourg – 97.83%
- Faroe Islands – 97.58%
- Aruba – 97.17%
- Denmark – 97.10%
- Monaco – 97.05%
Least Connected Countries: (Note North Korea not included)
- Eritrea – 1.31%
- Somalia – 2.00%
- Guinea-Bissau – 3.93%
- Central African Republic – 4.34%
- Burundi – 5.59%
- Chad – 6.50%
- South Sudan – 7.98%
- Liberia – 7.98%
- Comoros – 8.48%
- Democratic Republic of the Congo – 8.62%
And while these numbers are shockingly low, every single country on the list above still has a great share of internet users than the US did in 1990.
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Linda Reinfeld says
Love it – great chart. An ever-changing world
Lyn Hannan says
Dare I say that Australia’s NBN had a lot to do with the way it took a nosedive.
Jaap tennekes says
Bad chart, it should be number of connecties per capita. Now large countries are always on top.