Internet access (world market). Internet around the world - countries with the fastest Internet in Europe Latest Internet usage ranking in Europe

Internet statistics are especially important for those who own a website or promote online. It allows you to find out who uses the Internet most often, what sites are popular among the population and what devices are used to access the Internet.

Internet in Russia and in the world

Every year the World Wide Web increasingly covers different areas of people's lives. Statistics of Internet users in the world by year:

Year	Number of users	World population, %
1995	16 million	0,39
1997	76 million	1,81
2000	368.54 million	6,07
2001	513.41 million	8,46
2007	1.15 billion	17,2
2012	2.27 billion	31,9
2015	3.2 billion	43,4

By 2020, the number of network users will reach 4.1 billion people. Among the regions of the world in terms of the number of users, Asia leads. It accounts for almost half of the world's population with access to the Internet. In second place is Europe, in third place is Latin America and the Caribbean. The smallest percentage is in Australia and Oceania.

Internet statistics show that among the countries of the world, China leads in terms of target population - 738 million people. It is followed by India and the USA. Rating of European countries by number of users:

• Russia is in first place - 17% of all users in this region;
• Germany ranks second – 71.7 million people, which is 11.4% of all European users;
• in third place is the UK, where 53.3 million people use the Internet, i.e. 9.8% of Europeans with access to the network;
• followed by France (8.9% of all European users), Italy (8.2%), Türkiye (7.7%).

If we compare the cost of network access at an average speed of 10 Mbit/sec, then as of 2016, unlimited Internet is the cheapest for citizens of Ukraine. Russians pay a little more for access to the World Wide Web – an average of 350 rubles/month.

At the same time, the cost of 1 GB of mobile traffic is approximately 120 rubles. In Germany, people pay an average of 1,380 rubles/month for network access, and 1 GB of mobile traffic costs a little more than 800 rubles. The most expensive Internet is in the USA. Here, network access costs 2,700 rubles/month, and 1 GB of mobile Internet costs about 470 rubles.

What are the Internet statistics in Russia? In 2017, the network’s audience totaled 87 million people, i.e. 71% of all Russians. According to the industry report “Internet in Russia in 2016,” the country is actively working to eliminate the digital divide. Thanks to this, residents of many Russian villages and towns gained access to the network, thereby increasing the level of Internet penetration into society.

Audience characteristics

Internet statistics show that 2/3 of Internet users are men, and 1/3 are women. However, every year the difference in the quantitative ratio between representatives of both sexes decreases. The number of women using online technologies is increasing. If we consider the distribution of users by age, Internet statistics provide the following data:

• the average age of internet users is slightly older than 30 years;
• People aged 21 to 30 have the most experience working online;
• Mobile Internet is used more often by people aged 18–25.

What devices are people most likely to use to make online purchases? Internet commerce statistics show that Internet users prefer to make purchases using a computer. At the same time, people are less likely to buy anything online using smartphones or iPhones. If we talk about what is most often purchased on the Internet, statistics provide a list of the most popular products:

• small household appliances;
• shoes, clothes;
• cosmetics, perfumery;
• goods for children;
• mobile phones and tablets.

Online shopping statistics also show that many people pay for tickets to various events, purchase travel packages and book hotels online. Not only domestic online stores are popular among Russians. Products from Chinese manufacturers are in great demand. Statistics of Russian online stores with the largest volume:

• ulmart.ru– turnover 36.8 billion rubles.
• wildberries.ru– clothes, accessories, shoes. The store's turnover is 32 billion rubles.
• citilink.ru– turnover 24.8 billion rubles.
• mvideo.ru– technology, electronics. The store's turnover is 20.4 billion rubles.
• exist.ru– goods for cars. The store's turnover is 17.3 billion rubles.

Statistics also provide data on the amount spent on online purchases. Residents of the United States spend the most money in online stores - about $1,804 per year per customer. They spend slightly less in the UK - $1,629 per year. In Russia the figure is 396 dollars.

Internet statistics show how widespread the World Wide Web has been since its inception, and how firmly it has entered the lives of modern people.

2019

Russia is eighth in terms of the number of Internet users

The report of the BRICS Antimonopoly Center includes recommendations for antimonopoly agencies to deal with the new challenges of the digital era. One is that regulators should be more proactive in limiting the growth of the economic power of digital platforms, in particular by limiting their appetite to take over competitors and penetrate neighboring markets. The report also provides an analysis of competitive dynamics in the context of large-scale digitalization of the global economy, and an analysis of the problems of antitrust regulation in digital markets around the world and the latest experience of the BRICS countries. Experts from the BRICS Antimonopoly Center have identified gaps in regulation in those jurisdictions where the development of the digital economy is ahead of legislation and law enforcement practice. In addition, they compared the approaches of the BRICS antimonopoly regulators.

The report also contains statistics on the development of digitalization in countries around the world. For example, data is provided on the number of Internet users in the largest countries of the world. The first place in this indicator, according to the report, as of March 2019, is occupied by China, with 829 million Internet users. India is in second place with 560 million such users. Third place belongs to the United States of America, which has 293 million Internet users. Russia occupies eighth place in the ranking presented in the report – it has 109.5 million Internet users.

2018

World map by Internet penetration level

Half of the world's inhabitants go online

4 billion internet users

At the end of January 2018, the global media agency We Are Social and the developer of the social media management platform HootSuite presented a report according to which more than four billion people around the world use the Internet.

The number of Internet users by the end of 2018 amounted to 4.021 billion (53% of the planet’s population), which is 7% more than the same period in 2017.

Thus, more than half the world's population is connected to the Internet, and, according to the latest data, almost a quarter of a billion new users joined the Internet for the first time in 2017. Although Central Africa and Central Asia still have the lowest network connectivity rates, these same regions are experiencing the fastest growth rates. The maximum growth rate of network connections was observed in African countries, where the number of Internet users increased by more than 20% in 2017.

Most of the new users came online due to the reduction in the cost of smartphones and mobile phone plans, which became available to a wider segment of the population. In 2017, more than 200 million people purchased a mobile device for the first time. Thus, more than two thirds of the world’s population have acquired mobile phones (mainly smartphones). The number of mobile phone users in 2018 is 5.175 billion people (68%), which is 4% more than the same period in 2017.

The use of social media continues to grow rapidly. More than three billion people worldwide now access social media at least once a month, with nine out of ten users accessing it via mobile devices. The number of social media users in 2018 was 3.196 billion (42% of the world's population), which is 13% more than in 2017.

2017: 4.1 billion people in the world will be provided with the Internet by 2020

In five years, the number of Internet users in the world will grow by almost 20%. If in 2015 43% of the planet’s population (3.2 billion people) had access to the Internet (in 1995 this figure was 1%), then by 2020 the Internet will be available to 60%. This data was provided by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

According to ITU experts, the number of global network users has exceeded 3 billion people. This figure was announced a year earlier. This means that the Internet penetration rate among the global population is 43.4%. It is expected that in 2020, 53% of the world's inhabitants will be online users.

At the end of 2013, the number of broadband Internet access subscribers in the private segment in Russia amounted to 27.3 million. The volume of the Russian broadband access market in the household segment in 2013 amounted to 110 billion rubles. (which is 10% higher than the same period in 2012). According to iKS-Consulting estimates, by the end of 2013, the penetration of broadband Internet access services in Russia reached 49%.

The level of penetration in the Russian Federation is higher than the world average (in 2013, according to the ITU forecast, the average global penetration of broadband access by households was 39%), but significantly lower than the average level of developed countries (in, for example, this figure is 70% according to the Pew Research Center). This lag is explained by the uneven development of telecommunications infrastructure throughout the country. In large cities, this figure is usually above 70%, while in rural areas and hard-to-reach settlements the percentage of people using broadband Internet access is quite low (for example, in the Republic of Dagestan this figure does not exceed 11%, in the Republic of Ingushetia - 5%) .

In 2013, the growth of the subscriber base was 7%, which is significantly lower than the growth rates of previous years. In these conditions, operators solve the problem of maintaining the rate of profitability growth by providing subscribers with additional services and package offers. In their marketing initiatives in 2013, federal and large regional operators continued to focus on package offers of pay TV along with broadband access and telephony, while abroad the service offering is already much wider and includes, for example, cross-platform solutions - the ability to view content on all devices (TV, computer, tablet, laptop, smartphone), solutions for “smart homes”, etc.

2012

The number of Internet users in the world increased by 11% last year, reaching 2.3 billion people. This is stated in the International Telecommunication Union report “Measuring the Information Society” (autumn 2012).

According to ITU, the number of Internet users in 2011 grew three times faster than in developed countries. The number of people using the Internet from home is growing. Over the past year, their number increased by 14%. The Internet has become available to 600 million households out of 1.8 billion worldwide. Another important aspect, ITU experts say, is that last year the number of active mobile broadband subscribers grew by 40%, reaching almost 1.1 billion people by the end of 2011 .

• In Russia, in April 2009, comScore counted 31.3 million Internet users. Russia has become fourth in Europe in terms of the number of unique Internet users. Germany still ranks first in terms of Internet audience size with 40 million people. Next come Britain (36.8 million) and France (36.3 million).

• According to comScore, at the end of 2008 there were more than 1 billion Internet users in the world. Their largest share is in the Asia-Pacific region - 41% of the total number of Internet users worldwide. This is followed by Europe - 28% of the global number of users, North America - 18%, Latin America - 7%. Africa and the Middle East account for 5% of the global number of global Internet users.

Cost of broadband access in the world

2017: Countries with the most inexpensive broadband access are named

At the end of November 2017, it became known that Russia and five other countries of the former USSR are among the ten countries with the most inexpensive broadband Internet in the world. High-speed access to the Global Network is the cheapest for Iranians, and the most expensive for residents of Burkina Faso.

Having analyzed and organized data from the research company BDRC Continental for an 8-week period up to October 12, 2017, observers of the British portal Cable.co.uk compiled a rating of states based on the affordability of broadband Internet.

Russia is in third place on the list. According to the interactive map, which displays prices in terms of the exchange rate at the end of November 2017, the average monthly fee for broadband access in the Russian Federation is $9.82. In terms of the cheapness of the Internet, only two countries are ahead of Russia in the world - Ukraine and Iran, whose residents pay an average of $5.52 and $5.32 per month for broadband Internet.

The top ten in terms of prices included four more of the Russian Federation's closest neighbors - Moldova, Georgia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, where high-speed Internet costs $10.71, $12.77, $13.61 and $16.65, respectively.

In Western European countries, prices are completely different. Thus, the cheapest Internet in the region is in Italy ($28.89), Germany ($34.08), Denmark ($35.93) and France ($36.36). For comparison, in the UK, which ranks 62nd in the global ranking, the average broadband fee is $40.44.

Prices are even higher in North America: Canadians and Americans pay $54.9 and $66.17 for the Internet. However, even they are far from the anti-leaders of the rating, in which prices are measured in hundreds of dollars. For example, in the third-lowest country - Namibia - for the opportunity to join the Global Network you need to pay about $432, in the next Papua New Guinea this pleasure will cost almost $600, and in Burkina Faso - $965.

Cost of mobile broadband access in Russia and the world

2019

Russia has the cheapest unlimited Internet among developed countries

The information and analytical agency Content Review published in June 2019 the results of a study of tariffs for mobile Internet services in 50 countries. During the study, tariff offers from 136 telecom operators were analyzed and the cost of one gigabyte in Russian rubles was calculated. For the first time, the cost of tariffs with unlimited mobile Internet was also fixed. The cheapest unlimited mobile Internet in Russia, in the ranking of the cost of 1 Gb Russia took 4th place, improving its performance compared to 2018.

Highlights:

• the average global cost of 1 gigabyte of mobile Internet was 195.5 rubles, in Russia – 37.9 rubles (269.3 and 55.5 rubles in December 2018, respectively)
• The average global cost of a tariff with unlimited mobile Internet was 2,791.8 rubles per month
• (see chart #1), corresponding tariffs are present in 26 of the 50 countries examined in the study
• Russia entered the top five countries with the cheapest mobile Internet, moving to 4th place (see chart #2)
• The cost of a gigabyte is influenced by the following factors:

• • introduction of unlimited tariffs
  • competition in the market
  • country size
  • 5G availability

In most countries of the world considered in the study, operators offer subscribers options that cancel traffic tariffs for a number of applications (social media, video, etc.). The division into “day” and “night” traffic is a thing of the past, but is present in Asian countries. In a number of countries, operator websites already offer services, but their cost is often higher than in LTE/3G.

Russia is in 12th place, the leader is India

The top ten countries with the most affordable mobile Internet also include: Ukraine, Rwanda, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the same time, Cable.co.uk researchers noted that mobile Internet in the CIS countries is predominantly cheap. Only Turkmenistan is among the countries with high prices, where 1 GB costs an average of $19.81.

The most expensive mobile Internet turned out to be in Zimbabwe, where 1 GB costs $75.2. In addition, high Internet prices were recorded in Equatorial Guinea, St. Helena, the Falkland and Bermuda Islands, Djibouti, Greece, Samoa, Tokelau and Nauru.

2018: Russia is in 8th place out of 50 countries, the leader is Romania

On December 26, 2018, the Information and Analytical Agency Content Review published the results of a study of tariffs for mobile Internet services in 50 countries. During the study, tariff offers from 136 telecom operators were analyzed and the cost of one gigabyte in Russian rubles was calculated. The cheapest mobile Internet in Romania, Russia – 8th.

Highlights:

• the average global cost of 1 gigabyte of mobile Internet was 269.3 rubles, in Russia – 55.5 rubles (280.49 and 65.2 rubles in May 2018, respectively)
• Russia entered the top ten countries with the cheapest mobile Internet, retaining 8th place
• Russian operators entered the top 35 for the lowest cost of mobile Internet among 136 operators from 50 countries.
• The cost of a gigabyte is influenced by the following factors:
  • increase in mobile traffic packages while reducing their cost
  • introduction of unlimited tariffs
  • volatility of national currencies
  • competition in the market
  • country size

Cost of mobile Internet in countries around the world, December 2018 (RUB)

To calculate the cost of a gigabyte, we took tariffs and options with included traffic of 4 gigabytes and above. In each country, tariffs of up to four largest operators were considered; in the final calculations, the average cost of a gigabyte was used, converted into rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation as of December 22, 2018. The list of countries has not changed since 2016, when the first study was released, and reflects the top countries by GDP. The exception is Venezuela, which was replaced in this study by Romania due to its prolonged financial crisis.

Unlimited tariffs are available in a small number of countries, while “unlimited” is limited both by the amount of traffic available at maximum speed and by access speed.

In most countries of the world considered in the study, operators continued to offer subscribers options that abolished traffic tariffs for a number of applications, but did not abandon the classic division into “day” and “night” traffic. In a number of countries, operator websites already contain information about the imminent launch.

2016: Data from RIA Novosti and Content Review

Mobile Internet has become the main service of mobile operators around the world. Throughout 2016, most operators left their data tariffs unchanged, but introduced new offers with an increased traffic package. At the same time, in many countries where the cost of 1 gigabyte of mobile data was tens of times higher than Russian tariffs, tariffs decreased. In comparison with the tariffs of the Russian Beeline, the cost of one gigabyte of data in (UK) is 7 times higher, in South Korea - 6 times, in the USA and Germany - 5 times. Mobile Internet is cheaper than in Russia in Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Egypt. These countries are united by the low development of mobile networks and growing competition between operators, which affects the quality of the services provided.

To calculate the rating, package options were taken whose traffic volume was close to 2 gigabytes. According to Juniper Research, The average global traffic consumption of mobile subscribers is 2 gigabytes. Russian operators demonstrate the same figures in their reports. The list of countries was formed by GDP size, and one of the largest operators was selected in each country. Russia is represented in the ranking by the Beeline operator, which increased the number of mobile Internet users by 5% in 2016. Tariffs of Russian operators for mobile Internet are within a single price range. In 2016, the cost of 1 gigabyte in Russia dropped to 100 rubles.

In most countries of the world, operator offers do not include tariff plans with unlimited data traffic. The exception is some Scandinavian countries, where, due to their small geographical area and small number of subscribers, operators can provide such a service without significant network and maintenance costs. Among large developed countries, only in the United States unlimited tariffs were launched by all operators in February 2017, which was a consequence of increased competition. It is especially worth noting that the unlimited tariffs of American operators require a minimum subscriber ARPU of about $80 per month. For comparison, in Russia ARPU is about $6.

Tariffs for mobile Internet in Russia in 2016 decreased by 14%. The largest decrease in prices in the countries included in the rating occurred in Kazakhstan (76%), Egypt (63%), Malaysia (71%), Norway (51%) and Algeria (88%).

Sweden, Finland. Germany can also be considered expensive; here you will have to pay monthly for the Internet from 20 euros - about 1380 rubles. A gigabyte of mobile data will cost 11-12 euros or 820 rubles. At the same time, outside cities there are problems with coverage by 3G and 4G networks, and the speed in the broadband network may be lower than declared.

The most expensive mobile Internet among the countries reviewed by the publication is in China: 930 rubles per gigabyte and 1,850 rubles per month for broadband access. The broadband market is operated by China Unicom and China Telecom, which are de facto monopolists, controlling the northern and southern regions of the country, respectively. Moreover, the Internet in China is slow, often less than 10 Mbit/s, although this year the number of users with a speed of 20 Mbit/s could increase to one third. In addition, due to traffic tracking, loading of foreign sites is extremely slow.

The USA is the leader in the price of broadband access; users have to pay about 2,700 rubles monthly, although there are many providers in the country. Minimum rates are $30-35. At the same time, ADSL technology is still widespread. According to the publication, Internet from satellite operators is offered at similar rates. At the same time, mobile Internet is relatively cheap - only 470 rubles per gigabyte.

Australian gadget users pay the same amounts. Broadband access in this country is only slightly cheaper than in the USA - 2,200 rubles per month, although users complain about low speeds at high prices. Satellite internet is also available.

In third world countries prices vary greatly. Thus, the most expensive Internet among the countries on the Mediterranean coast of Africa is in Algeria: 1,100 rubles per month for broadband access and 870 rubles per gigabyte of mobile traffic. At the same time, communication in Egypt will cost half as much. Relatively affordable internet in Brazil

2016: Less than 2.5 Mb/s is the speed of Internet access per capita in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan lags 4 times behind the minimum speed threshold for Internet access from the CIS countries, which undoubtedly affects the economic development of the republic.

Internet access speed in Kyrgyzstan today is less than 2.5 Mb/s. The country is 4 times behind in terms of the lowest speed indicator of Internet access.

According to the World Bank, Internet bandwidth in Kyrgyzstan is thousands of times less than in Russia and Kazakhstan. The head of the ISOC Internet community in Kyrgyzstan, Talant Sultanov, also notes that in 2 years the republic has improved its indicators, but at the same time, “if there are less than 10 megabits per capita, then this is bad for the economic development of the country.”

2010: Broadband Quality Score

The Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, together with Oviedo University, with the support of Cisco, conducted the third study of the quality of broadband access - Broadband Quality Score 2010. Based on 40 million real tests of broadband access (BBA) conducted in May-June In 2010, using the Internet connection speed testing service speedtest.net, researchers were able to assess the quality of broadband access in 72 countries and 239 cities around the world.

The quality of broadband access was assessed by measuring the connection speed towards the user (download) and from the user (upload), as well as connection delay (latency) - key characteristics on which the support of various Internet applications depends: TelePresence systems, online video, social networks and other services. These criteria create the Broadband Quality Score (BQS) for each country. By combining this with broadband penetration rates (i.e. the proportion of households with broadband access, as reported by Point Topic in 2010), the researchers were able to identify the leaders - the countries with the best combination of broadband quality and coverage.

Overall, the 2010 Broadband Quality Score found that broadband quality is improving across the board as nations prepare to embrace the applications of tomorrow. Two-thirds of the countries covered by the study demonstrate that broadband access fully meets and exceeds the requirements of today's applications. Overall, thanks to investments in infrastructure, the quality of broadband access in the world has improved by 50% in just three years, and its penetration level continues to increase. About half of households (49%) in the countries covered have broadband technology, up from 40% in 2008.

Broadband Quality Score 2010 Key Facts The quality of broadband access around the world continues to grow at a rapid pace:

• In general, the quality of broadband access has increased by 48% since 2008 (in some countries this figure is even higher):
  • The average data transfer speed towards the subscriber increased by 49% in just three years (3271 Kb/s in 2008, 4882 Kb/s in 2009 and 5920 Kb/s in 2010).
  • The average data transfer speed in the direction from the subscriber over three years increased by 69% (794 Kb/s in 2008, 1345 Kb/s in 2009 and 1777 Kb/s in 2010).
  • Average latency decreased by 25% to 142 ms. This is slightly more than in 2009 (140 ms), but significantly lower than in 2008 (189 ms).
• Broadband quality in 48 countries (66%) meets the requirements of all today's Internet applications (the study defines them as social networking, video streaming, basic video conferencing, small file sharing), as well as less demanding applications (instant messaging, email) , web surfing). There have been ten more such countries since 2009 and 18 more since 2008, despite the fact that between 2008 and 2010 the volume of Internet traffic in the world grew by 166% (

New research from We Are Social and Hootsuite shows that more than 4 billion people around the world already use the Internet.

More than half of our planet's population is already online, and almost 250 million people gained access to the Internet for the first time in 2017. Africa shows the fastest growth rate, with the number of users on the continent up 20% compared to last year.

One of the main factors in the growth of the number of Internet users was the availability of smartphones and mobile Internet tariffs. More than 200 million people became mobile device owners for the first time in 2017, and two-thirds of the world's population owns a mobile phone.

More than half of the phones in use are smartphones, making it increasingly easy for people to enjoy all the benefits of the Internet regardless of location.

We will consider in detail the key points from the reports below, but for now we present the main theses of the digital world in 2018:

• The number of Internet users in 2018 is 4.021 billion, up 7% from last year
• The number of social media users in 2018 is 3.196 billion, up 13% from last year
• The number of mobile phone owners in 2018 is 5.135 billion, 4% more than last year

So what can all this data tell us? We have identified 10 key points that you will probably be interested in learning about.

1. Billions of years

Over the past 12 months, not only the number of people using the Internet has increased, but also the time people spend on the global network.

The latest data from GlobalWebIndex shows that the average user spends approximately 6 hours on the Internet every day (using both Internet-enabled devices and services).

If we add up all the Internet use time of all people in 2018, then in total we will get approximately one billion years.

2. Distribution of the future

As we stated in last year's report, internet access is unevenly distributed around the world.

This is still true, but some things are starting to change.

Internet penetration is still low in Central Africa and South Asia, but these regions are showing the fastest growth.

The number of users from Africa grew by 20%, and the number of people using the Internet in Mali increased by approximately six times since January 2017. The number of internet users in Benin, Sierra Leone, Niger and Mozambique has also more than doubled in the past year.

3. Internet on the go

More than two-thirds of the world's population owns a mobile device, and the majority of them use a smartphone.

The number of unique users of mobile devices grew by more than 4%, although in Central Africa, for example, the prevalence of gadgets does not reach 50%.

Smartphones remain the primary device for going online and receive more traffic than all other devices combined.

Moreover, this data only relates to web traffic usage. Latest data from App Annie shows that people are now using mobile apps 7 times longer than mobile web browsers, so we can say that the mobile “share of the Internet” is even larger than in the figures above.

The latest data from Facebook reinforces these facts, because only 5% of users on this platform log in from a non-mobile device.

4. Eleven new users per second

Nearly one million people started using social media every day in the last year, which is the equivalent of 11 new users per second.

We found that older users account for some of this growth. On Facebook alone, the number of users over 65 has grown by 20% over the past year.

The number of teenagers using Facebook has also increased, but the number of users aged 13 to 17 has only shown a 5% increase since January last year.

The gender ratio of users remains a concern, with recent data showing that women are poorly represented in Central Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.

5. The Philippines holds the throne

For the third year in a row, Filipinos spend the most time on social media, while the average user spends almost 4 hours.

The Brazilians are catching up with them, and the Indonesians and Thais are ahead of the Argentines and take 3rd and 4th places in the annual ranking.

6. Facebook still dominates

It was another good year for Mark Zuckerberg and company, as all Facebook Inc. platforms. showed impressive growth in 2017.

Their main platform still dominates, with user growth reaching 15% and a total of 2.17 billion users at the start of 2018.

WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are growing twice as fast as Facebook itself - the number of users of these instant messengers has grown by 30% compared to last year.

Both apps have the same number of users, but the latest data from SimilarWeb showed that WhatsApp has a geographic advantage: it is the most used messenger in 128 countries, compared to 72 countries for Facebook Messenger.

There are only 25 countries in the world where a non-Facebook instant messaging app is the leader.

Despite the impressive messenger data, Instagram posted the most impressive growth of all Facebook-owned apps, growing by a third in the last 12 months.

7. Organic reach continues to fall

As expected, organic reach and engagement have fallen over the past year, with the figure hovering around 10% year on year. Despite the dismal performance, these numbers will be valuable to marketers around the world.

8. Mobile Internet speed continues to grow

Mobile internet speeds are getting faster around the world, and according to a GSMA Intelligence report, more than 60% of all mobile connections can be classified as “broadband”.

However, there are significant differences in mobile Internet speeds in different countries. Users from Norway, for example, are content with an average speed of 60 Mb/s - almost 3 times more world average.

Mobile internet users in six countries, including the Netherlands, Singapore and the UAE, are enjoying internet speeds of over 50 Mbps. On the other hand, users from 18 countries, including India and Indonesia, still suffer from average connection speeds of less than 10 Mbps.

But there is good news: average mobile Internet speed has increased by more than 30% over the past year.

This isn't just good news for the impatient, but fast connections can help reduce stress. The study found that delays of a few seconds when loading videos can cause the same level of anxiety as watching a horror movie or trying to solve a complex math problem.

Thanks in part to faster download speeds, the average smartphone owner consumes about 3 gigabytes of data every month - a figure that has grown by more than 50% over the past year.

9. E-commerce is growing sharply

Recent data has shown that the overall e-commerce market value (for consumer goods) has grown by 16% over the past year. The total amount spent for 2017 was nearly $1.5 trillion, with apparel being the largest product category.

The number of people using online shopping to purchase consumer goods increased by 8% – approximately 1.8 billion people all over the world make online purchases. About 45% of all Internet users use online stores.

The amount of money people spend on online stores also increased by 7% to $833. The British spend the most, with about $2,000 per user per year.

It is worth noting that we are talking here only about consumer goods. If we add to this spending on travel, digital content and mobile applications, then in general the e-commerce market can be assessed approximately $2 trillion dollars.

10. 5,000 charts

This article includes just a small sample of the 5,000 different graphs that you can find in the full 2018 Global Digital report. And you can watch the full version of the 135-page presentation.

Romanian cat Pitzush, Instagram star

The speed and accessibility of the Internet are associated not only with democratic freedoms and the development of high technologies in the country, but also with the general high standard of living of society. And this is not at all accidental, because Internet speed leaders such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore only reinforce this stereotype. But things become less clear when you come across high rates in Europe. Stereotypes are crumbling, some social phenomena defy logic at all, and the existence of fast Internet in a number of countries seems completely inexplicable.

Most of Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, Spain) demonstrates average 4G LTE speeds of 20-30 Mbps, while Eastern European countries are currently competing with Asian leaders. How did Eastern European countries manage to overtake the Scandinavians in Internet speed, who have been leading in Europe for the last few years? What are the reasons for such achievements? We will try to find an answer to this question.

Hungarian protests for internet freedom

According to a report by OpenSignal, the fastest mobile Internet in Europe is Hungarian. 4G LTE Internet speed is 40.61 Mbit/s - the third highest in the world. Surprisingly, despite the increase in Internet speed every year, its availability is limited, and quite simply: by price. People's incomes are low, so this is a very effective way to regulate traffic.

The national top level domain .hu was registered in November 1990. By January 1, 2015, 656,185 domains were registered in the country.

Quite little is known about the history of the Hungarian Internet. We know about the scandals associated with him. For example, in 2014, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban proposed introducing an Internet tax that would be levied on incoming traffic - for each gigabyte received. The fact is that people have become less likely to use the services of cellular operators for calls, switching to the Internet. Initially, the tax was explained as “a benefit for the people,” but, after carefully weighing the consequences of its introduction, residents foresaw a doubling of the cost of the Internet and took to the streets. For several days Budapest was in the grip of a crowd of thousands protesting the tax. Protesters even bombarded the ruling party's headquarters with parts from old computers. As a result, the bill was withdrawn.

The phenomenon of the Romanian Internet

Romanian cat Boss - PR manager of the local online store Catbox, a famous meme in Romania

Surely not everyone knows that for a long time Romania could boast of the fastest Internet in Europe, until Hungary overtook it (which is also quite unobvious). The history of the Romanian Internet phenomenon dates back to the nineties. The national top-level domain.ro was created in 1993. The state-owned company Romtelecom reigned in the provider market. The Internet was not very good, so local entrepreneurs decided to create their own: high-speed and fiber-optic using overhead cables. As a result, Romania was one of the first countries to abandon the use of copper wires.

The technological revolution came there only in 2002; quite late, considering that it swept around the world in 1989. But this did not stop Romania from becoming a country with one of the most developed digital infrastructures. It now ranks second in Europe and fourth in the world in terms of 4G LTE Internet speed (35.61 Mbps). For comparison, Russia is only in 58th place on this list (17.57 Mbit/s).

If the Internet is fast and cheap, then why hasn't Romania become a European startup hub? The answer is simple - the country is still poorly developed for this: poor financing for entrepreneurship, low purchasing power of citizens and big problems with infrastructure. But we can’t help but mention the advantages of Romania. Accessible Internet, good specialists (engineers and programmers) and low real estate prices can lead to the country eventually becoming the European Silicon Valley.

Hackerville

It all sounds too simple, even boring. But everything is simple only at first glance. In special circles, Romania is associated with the city of Ramnicu Valcea, the European center of hackers. 120 thousand people live in it, and the only shopping center is called a “museum” by locals (because people only come to it to gawk; only scammers can buy something). There has always been a big shortage of work in Ramnicu Valcea, but the spread of the Internet has made it possible to find another way to earn money - illegally.

The emergence of Internet cafes with cheap rates marked the beginning of hacker activity in the city. First, the hackers mastered the basics: false advertising on eBay, which offered to purchase goods at a low price, transferring money to the scammers’ accounts. Gradually, the FBI became interested in the small Romanian town, and so it turned into Hackerville. According to Romanian authorities, hackers have “earned” more than $10 billion over the past ten years. In 2014, they stole more than $1 billion - approximately 1/400th of the value of Internet fraud in a year. But for Romania this is a lot of money. Individual groups of hackers can earn up to 50 thousand dollars a week.

Moreover, in the city there are not even large hackers, but small ones who steal information about credit cards, send bricks instead of smartphones to buyers on eBay, or create skimmers to remove information about credit cards from an ATM.

Marcel Lechel

But there are also special stars. Among them is hacker Marcel Lehel under the pseudonym Guccifier. He became famous for hacking the mail of the sister of former US President George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, the Rockefeller family and US Army General Colin Powell. True, attacks on high-ranking and influential US citizens are quite logical and “noble” for Lechel: he, a conspiracy theorist, ardently believes that society is secretly controlled by the Illuminati mafia.

Bulgaria

The Internet in Bulgaria is widespread - more than half of the country's population has Internet access. In the global ranking, Bulgaria ranks sixth in the world and fourth in Europe in terms of 4G LTE Internet speed - 34.26 Mbit/s. And all thanks to the fact that since 2009, at the state level, the country has been actively promoting the National Strategy for the Development of Broadband Access.

The Bulgarian national top-level domain - .bg - was registered in 1991. The first commercial Internet provider (since 1991) is Digital Systems - Varna. It offered its services to subscribers via EUnet. The following year, e-mail became available in Bulgaria: the first public mail server was opened in the Varna library, through which electronic messages could be sent.

The Electronic Communications Law obliges Internet providers and mobile operators to store traffic data (date, hour, location, duration of communication) and all communications of their subscribers for a year. By court decision, this data can be transferred to the State National Security Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Intelligence Service to search for individuals and solve serious crimes: computer crimes and those that involve five years of imprisonment. Internet providers and mobile operators do not have the right to record information exchanged between subscribers without their personal consent.

The Netherlands - the technological pearl of Europe

The Dutch are known throughout the world for their efforts in introducing technology into absolutely all areas of life. There is a lot of research going on in the Netherlands related to the implementation of technology in public transport, road infrastructure, surveillance, energy planning and distribution, etc.

Internet coverage in the country is very high: second in Europe (after Lithuania) with an indicator of more than 82%, and fifth in the world. In terms of 4G LTE speed, the country is seventh in the world and fourth in Europe. One of the most important sources of income for the Netherlands is startup activity, which is why the state is interested in the continuous development of the technology industry. In December 2016, there were even statements in the Netherlands that connecting to high-speed Internet is a basic human need.

The technological prowess of the Netherlands is also proven by the fact that in 2016 this country was the first in the world to successfully implement the Internet of Things throughout its territory. KPN said its LoRa IoT network is now available everywhere. Previously, the network was used in test mode in Rotterdam and The Hague. What benefits did this implementation bring? For example, Smartlog is now using the Internet of Things to monitor water levels in Amsterdam canals. If the level is exceeded, the floodgates are automatically opened to drain the water; this allows many residential buildings and shops in the city to be saved from flooding.

Another successful application of the technology is the baggage tracking system at the large Schiphol Airport. Instead of reading detailed descriptions, it is better to watch a video of how it works.

At Utrecht Central Station, LoRa sensors are used to switch train switches. Sensors collect data on the position of the hands and monitor everything that happens every second. Another successful example is the Mobilock project, which allows you to track bicycles in the city, minimizing the possibility of their theft.

Everyone knows that in the Netherlands they treat the environment with care and special love. Therefore, even waste disposal is automated using the Internet of Things. Suez has equipped all types of waste with sensors and tracks their route from collection point to disposal site. This allows you to collect data on the load on services and reduce the cost of services, improving the cleanliness of the streets.

Conclusion

To complete the picture, the graphs below show the development of Internet penetration in the currently leading European countries and the increase in 4G LTE speed. Surprisingly, they are progressing quite evenly, even despite the fact that the countries of Eastern Europe are very much inferior to their Western competitors in many indicators: economic development, standard of living, amount of investment, Internet freedom and government transparency. But this does not prevent them from getting ahead, competing very closely even with the rich and very technologically advanced Scandinavians. Who knows, perhaps very soon we will see these countries on the pedestal, and their example will be called the great miracle of Eastern Europe.

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The analytical agency We Are Social and the largest SMM platform Hootsuite jointly prepared a package of reports on the global digital market Global Digital 2018. According to the data presented in the reports, today more than 4 billion people use the Internet around the world.

More than half the world's population is now online, and about a quarter of a billion of them went online for the first time in 2017. The fastest growth rates are observed in Africa, with the number of Internet users on the continent increasing by more than 20% compared to the same period last year.

One of the key factors in the growth of the Internet audience this year was affordable smartphones and inexpensive mobile Internet tariffs. In 2017, more than 200 million people became mobile device owners for the first time, and two-thirds of the world's 7.6 billion people now own a mobile phone.

With more than half of the mobile devices in use today being smart, it's becoming increasingly easier for people to access everything the internet has to offer wherever they are.

Growth is also observed in the audience of social networks. Over the past 12 months, the number of people on the most popular social platforms has increased by almost 1 million new users every day. More than 3 billion people interact with social networks every month, and 9 out of 10 access them from mobile devices.

The main findings of the reports are discussed in detail below, but for now, here is a brief overview of the most significant metrics in the digital sphere in 2018:

• The number of Internet users in 2018 reached 4.021 billion people, which is 7% more than the same period last year.
• The audience of social networks in 2018 totals 3.196 billion people, which is an increase of 13% compared to last year’s figure.
• 5.135 billion people use mobile phones in 2018, 4% more than a year ago.

So, what does all this valuable information mean?

1. Billion years

This year, not only the number of Internet users has increased. The time people spend online has also increased over the past 12 months.

According to the latest data obtained from GlobalWebIndex, the average Internet user today spends about 6 hours a day using devices and services that depend on an Internet connection. This is, roughly speaking, a third of all waking time.

If you multiply this time by the 4 billion total Internet users, you get a staggering figure: in 2018, we will spend a total of 1 billion years online.

2. Distribution of the future

As noted in last year's report, Internet access is unevenly distributed across different parts of the world. In 2018, the situation is almost the same, but some changes are observed.

While internet penetration remains low in much of Central Africa and South Asia, these regions are experiencing the most impressive online audience growth rates.

The number of Internet users in Africa has grown by 20 percent compared to last year. In Mali, the number of people with internet access has increased almost 6-fold since January 2017. Online audiences in Benin, Sierra Leone, Niger and Mozambique have doubled in the past year.

This is not just another billion connected.

The spread of the Internet in developing countries will change the way people around the world use the Internet. That's because companies like Google, Facebook, Alibaba and Tencent are looking to offer scalable, global products that meet the needs of these new users and the contexts in which they come online. These changes will definitely have a significant impact on the future of the Internet.

3. Communication on the move

More than two-thirds of people around the world today have a mobile phone, the majority of them are smartphone owners.

Unique mobile users increased by more than 4 percent year over year, although penetration remains below 50 percent in much of Central Africa.

People all over the world prefer to access the Internet from smartphones. They generate more web traffic than all other devices combined.

Moreover, this data only applies to web use. According to recent data from mobile app market research company App Annie, people today spend 7 times more time in mobile apps than in mobile versions of browsers. This suggests that the share of mobile devices on the Internet is most likely even greater than the above figure.

The latest information from Facebook only confirms this assumption: only 5% of the social network’s global audience uses the platform exclusively from the desktop.

4. Eleven new users per second

Over the past year, just under one million people discovered social media for the first time every day—that’s more than 11 new users per second.

Saudi Arabia had the highest growth rate among the 40 countries studied, at 32 percent. India lagged behind the leader slightly; the number of social media users here increased by 31 percent over the year.

The increase was partly facilitated by the fact that older people began to join social networks. On Facebook alone, the number of users aged 65 and older has increased by nearly 20 percent over the past 12 months.

There have also been more teenagers (13 to 17 years old) among the Facebook audience, but only by 5% since January 2017.

The gender ratio among Internet users is still uneven. Thus, the latest data provided by Facebook suggests that there are still significantly fewer women online in much of Central Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

5. The Philippines holds the lead

True, the Brazilians are already breathing down their necks. The Indonesians and Thais overtook the Argentines to take third and fourth place in this year's rankings.

6. Facebook still dominates

For Mark Zuckerberg and his team, 2017 was another successful year, bringing impressive growth across all platforms owned by Facebook Inc.

The group's main platform, Facebook, continues to dominate social media, growing its user base by 15% year over year. At the beginning of the year, there were almost 2.17 billion profiles on the social network.

WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger grew at twice the rate of Facebook's main platform last year. Over the year, the number of users in each application increased by 30 percent.

Although the audiences of these applications are approximately equal, judging by recent data from SimilarWeb, WhatsApp has taken the lead in terms of geographic coverage. Today, WhatsApp is the top messaging app in 128 countries, while Facebook Messenger leads in 72.

In only 25 countries around the world, the most popular messaging app is not Facebook-owned Messenger.

Despite these impressive statistics, Instagram has managed to outperform all Facebook apps in terms of growth over the past 12 months. The number of users here has increased by a third.

7. Organic reach continues to fall

Organic reach and engagement on Facebook (based on data from 179 countries) have declined over the past year, with average reach rates down more than 10 percent compared to the previous year. Despite the depressing dynamics, these numbers will provide valuable guidance for marketers around the world.

8. Increase mobile Internet speed

The speed of data transfer in mobile networks is growing, this trend can be seen on a global scale. Analytical agency GSMA Intelligence reports that more than 60% of mobile connections today are classified as broadband.

However, there are significant differences in mobile communication speeds across countries. In Norway, the average download speed for mobile networks is 60 Mbps - almost three times faster than the global average.

Mobile Internet users in 6 countries, including the Netherlands, Singapore and the UAE, boast average connection speeds above 50 Mbit/s. At the other end of the ranking are 18 countries, including India and Indonesia, where the average data transfer speed on mobile networks does not exceed 10 Mbit/s.

There is some good news: over the past year, average mobile data speeds have increased by 30 percent.

This news may please not only the impatient. Faster connections help reduce stress levels. According to research, if there is a delay of just a few seconds while loading a video, your anxiety level can jump just like watching a horror movie or solving a complex math problem.

Thanks in part to increased data transfer speeds, the average smartphone owner, regardless of geography, uses almost 3 GB of data every month, which is a 50% increase compared to last year.

9. Sharp rise in spending in online stores

According to the latest data from the research agency Statista, cited in its Digital Market Review, the overall e-commerce market in the consumer goods sector grew by 16% last year. Annual spending reached US$1.5 trillion in 2017, with fashion being the largest single category.

Globally, the number of people using e-commerce platforms to purchase consumer goods (such as fashion, food, electronics and toys) grew by 8 percent. Almost 1.8 billion people around the world shop online today.

Approximately 45 percent of all internet users make purchases on e-commerce platforms, but e-commerce penetration rates vary across countries.

The receipt of each buyer in the online trading segment is also growing. Compared to last year, average revenue per user increased 7 percent to $833. The British spend the most on online shopping - according to current data, in the UK, more than $2,000 is spent annually per user.

It is worth emphasizing that these figures are only for consumer goods. If we add spending in other categories such as travel, digital content and mobile apps, the global e-commerce market is likely to be around US$2 trillion.

Internet in Russia 2018: main figures

The Russian digital market follows global trends.

• The most popular mobile application in Russia (both in terms of audience and number of downloads) is WhatsApp, followed by Viber, VK and Sberbank Online. Instagram ranks fifth in the ranking by the number of users and sixth by the number of downloads (here it was ahead of the Yula service from Mail.RU Group).
• 63% of domestic Internet users search for goods and services online, but only 46% make purchases. Top spenders are on travel and hotels ($7.903 billion, up 24% from last year), toys and hobbies ($4.175 billion), and fashion and beauty ($4.783 billion).

Main Internet trends 2018

The digital market will continue to gain momentum in 2018, and despite this year's unprecedented growth rates, we see that access to the opportunities that the global network offers is unevenly distributed. This creates a good foundation for development and suggests that the digital market has definitely not reached the ceiling yet.

However, this development cannot be called linear. There is a transformation of online consumption: Internet users are becoming more mobile, desktops are being systematically replaced by more convenient devices that can be carried with them. As a result, purchases smoothly flow online, the web loses its position, losing some of the traffic to applications, and social networks play a more significant role - this is valuable information for business.

These are the main findings of research conducted by We Are Social and Hootsuite. It is difficult to say for sure what awaits us in a year, but it is obvious that the Internet will become even more firmly embedded in our daily lives, changing the structure and ways of consuming information.