TWN Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Nov26/03)
11 November 2026
Third World Network

UN: Digital divide persists despite record 6.3 billion Internet users
Published in SUNS #10551 dated 10 November 2026 

Penang, 6 Nov (Kanaga Raja) -- While an estimated 6.3 billion people, representing 76 per cent of the world's population, are using the Internet in 2026, significant digital divides persist, with around 2 billion people still remaining offline, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

In its latest Facts and Figures 2026 report, the ITU highlighted persistent disparities in who is connected.

For example, it said that Internet use stands at 93 per cent in high-income countries, compared with just 32 per cent in low-income countries.

Additionally, the ITU said that universal connectivity remains a distant prospect in least developed countries (LDCs) and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), where only 41 and 43 per cent of the population are online, respectively.

Although in 2026, Internet use grew by an estimated 8.7 per cent in LDCs and 6.5 per cent in LLDCs, faster than in most other groups and regions, connectivity levels in those countries remain well below the global average, it pointed out.

"In the age of AI, being offline means being shut out of countless opportunities, from education to employment," said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General. "Now more than ever, we need to expand connectivity and make it meaningful for everyone, everywhere."

According to the report, in 2026, 76 per cent of the world's population is online, compared with 74 per cent in 2025, corresponding to 6.3 billion people, up from 6.1 billion last year, while year-on-year growth has increased slightly to 3 per cent, up from 2.5 per cent.

However, it said while surpassing three-quarters of the global population represents an important milestone on the way to universal connectivity, 2 billion people remain offline.

In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe and the Americas, between 87 and 93 per cent of the population use the Internet. In the Asia-Pacific and Arab States regions, Internet use stands at 80 and 74 per cent, respectively, close to the global average.

On the other hand, the report said that in Africa, only 42 per cent of the population uses the Internet.

In other key findings, the report highlighted slow progress towards gender parity in Internet use.

Globally, 79 per cent of men use the Internet, compared with 74 per cent of women. Although the number of female Internet users has increased by 54 per cent since 2019, compared with 48 per cent for men, there are still over 200 million more male Internet users than female Internet users worldwide in 2026, it said.

According to ITU, gender parity is deemed to have been achieved when the gender parity score, defined as the share of women using the Internet divided by the share of men using the Internet, is between 0.98 and 1.02.

The global gender parity score has improved gradually, from 0.91 in 2019 to 0.94 in 2026. Among ITU regions, gender parity has been achieved in Europe, the Americas and the CIS, said the report.

"In the Asia-Pacific region, the gender parity score has increased from 0.89 in 2019 to 0.93 in 2026. The Arab States region recorded a similar improvement, from 0.84 to 0.91 over the same period."

Africa continues to record the largest gender gap, although since 2019 its gender parity score has increased from 0.72 to 0.84, it added.

There have been similar improvements in the gender parity score in LDCs and LLDCs, although men remain considerably more likely than women to use the Internet, it further said.

However, the report said Small Island Developing States (SIDS) stand out as a notable exception to the strong correlation between gender parity and overall Internet use, having nearly achieved gender parity even though less than two-thirds of the population use the Internet.

On youth Internet usage, the report said universal Internet use has already been achieved among young people in many parts of the world.

Globally, 86 per cent of people aged 15 to 24 use the Internet, 12 percentage points more than among the rest of the population (74 per cent).

According to the report, this generational gap, observed in every region, has been shrinking over the last four years, slowly in upper-middle- and high-income economies, but much faster in low- and lower-middle-income economies.

In 2026, 15 to 24 year olds in low-income countries were 1.8 times as likely to use the Internet as the rest of the population. Although this is the largest generational gap of any income group, it has narrowed since 2023 when the ratio stood at 2.1. In lower-middle economies, the ratio has decreased from 1.5 to 1.3 over the same period.

Universal Internet use, defined as a usage rate of at least 95 per cent, has already been achieved among young people in Europe, the CIS and the Americas, with the Asia-Pacific region close behind, the report said.

In further findings, the report said that the urban-rural divide is narrowing but remains wide in regions with low Internet use.

It said globally, 82 per cent of urban dwellers use the Internet in 2026, compared with 63 per cent of the rural population.

The urban-rural gap, measured as the ratio of the two percentages, narrowed slightly from 1.4 in 2023 to 1.3 in 2026. The gap is smallest in regions with high Internet use, including Europe, the CIS and the Americas, where the ratio is just 1.1. In Africa, the ratio still stands at 2.2, down from 3.1 in 2023.

In high-income and upper-middle-income countries, where 93 and 88 per cent of the population, respectively, use the Internet, the urban-rural gap has almost been bridged, with an average ratio of 1.1, the report stressed.

On the other hand, it said in low-income countries, the gap remains wide with only one in six rural dwellers (17 per cent) online, compared with four in ten urban residents (41 per cent).

Nevertheless, the gap has narrowed most in relative terms in low-income countries, with the urban-to-rural ratio falling from 3.8 in 2023, to 2.5 in 2026.

On mobile network coverage, the report said that six in ten people are covered by 5G, but the spread is uneven.

It said that since its commercial introduction in 2019, 5G coverage has expanded to cover 59 per cent of the world's population.

"5G already reaches 86 per cent of people in high-income countries, but only 4 per cent in low-income countries, highlighting substantial disparities in deployment."

Europe leads with 78 per cent of the population covered by 5G, followed by the Asia-Pacific region with 73 per cent, and the Americas with 68 per cent. Coverage remains considerably lower in the Arab States (27 per cent), Africa (15 per cent) and the CIS (10 per cent), said ITU.

"While 5G deployment is still underway in many regions, 4G remains a reliable connectivity solution, currently available to 94 per cent of the world's population."

However, the report said that in low-income countries, 4G reaches just 68 per cent of the population. In these countries, 3G continues to play an important role in providing Internet access.

Coverage by 3G or higher technology has reached 97 per cent of the world's population. Yet extending networks to the remaining 3 per cent – approximately 282 million people - remains challenging, it pointed out.

Since 2018, when coverage first surpassed 90 per cent, the global gain has amounted to just seven percentage points, and just over half of those without access to a mobile broadband network live in Africa.

The report said in LDCs and LLDCs, 12 and 8 per cent of the population, respectively, remain without access to mobile broadband, underscoring the unfinished work towards achieving Target 9.c of Sustainable Development Goal 9: "to significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020."

The report further highlighted that 5G coverage continues to lag in rural areas. It said since urban areas are more densely populated and economically attractive, they are usually prioritized when new infrastructure is deployed.

As a result, 70 per cent of people living in urban areas worldwide have access to a 5G network, compared with 45 per cent of those in rural areas, a gap of 25 percentage points.

It said in high-income countries, 90 per cent of the urban population is covered by 5G, compared with 72 per cent of the rural population, while in low-income countries, 5G reaches only 10 per cent of the urban population and is virtually unavailable in rural areas.

Older technologies are more widely available. 4G networks cover 99 per cent of the urban population worldwide, but coverage drops to 87 per cent in rural areas.

However, the report said these global averages conceal substantial disparities, with only 54 per cent of the rural population in low-income countries covered by 4G.

The report found that four in ten mobile-broadband subscriptions are 5G subscriptions. In 2026, globally, there are 9.5 billion mobile cellular subscriptions, corresponding to 114 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.

In high-income countries, there are 144 mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, which is almost double the subscription rate of low-income countries (74). Among ITU regions, the CIS has the highest penetration, with 162 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, compared with 101 in Africa.

In 2026, globally, there are 105 mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Mobile broadband now accounts for 92 per cent of all mobile subscriptions, up from less than 50 per cent in 2015.

This shift reflects changing user behaviour, with demand increasingly shaped by data-based services and the gradual phase-out of voice-only plans, the report emphasized.

"Despite the global subscription rate exceeding 100 per 100 inhabitants, not everyone has a mobile broadband subscription: many individuals hold multiple subscriptions and some subscriptions are used by connected devices (e.g. tablets) rather than individuals."

The report said regional disparities remain significant: on average, there are 138 mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in the Americas region, compared with 57 in Africa.

In parallel, fixed broadband subscriptions continue to expand steadily, growing by an average of 4.7 per cent annually over the past five years, to reach 21 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2026.

During the same period, fixed telephone subscriptions declined by an average of 2.8 per cent per year. In 2024, fixed broadband penetration surpassed the historical peak of 19 fixed telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants recorded in 2006, said the report.

Highlighting trends in Internet traffic, the report said that mobile broadband traffic is growing faster, but fixed networks still carry the majority of Internet data.

The report said that after crossing the 1 zettabyte (ZB) threshold in 2023, end-user mobile broadband Internet traffic reached an estimated 1.7 ZB in 2026. Fixed broadband traffic was four times greater, at 7.5 ZB, up from 6.6 ZB the previous year.

Fixed broadband networks carry most Internet traffic, including traffic generated by mobile devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices connected via Wi-Fi.

"Nevertheless, since 2021, mobile broadband traffic has grown by an average of 18.2 per cent annually, faster than the 13.6 per cent growth for fixed broadband traffic."

On the affordability of ICT services, the report found that Internet access prices continue to fall, but three in ten economies still do not meet the affordability target for the fixed or mobile broadband basket.

Globally, the median price of the data-only mobile broadband basket, expressed as a share of gross national income (GNI) per capita, has fallen from 1.3 to 1.2 per cent, while the fixed broadband basket has decreased from 2.5 to 2.3 per cent of GNI per capita.

Nonetheless, the report said lack of affordability continues to be a major barrier to Internet use, especially in low-income economies.

It said despite some progress, a wide gap persists between high-income economies and the rest of the world.

On average, subscribers in lower-middle-income economies spend over seven times the share of their income on a mobile broadband basket as subscribers in high-income economies.

Subscribers in low-income economies spend about 20 times as much. A fixed broadband subscription costs the equivalent of more than one quarter of the average income in a low-income economy, it added.

On mobile phone ownership, the report said more than four out of five people worldwide own a mobile phone.

ITU said that globally, 84 per cent of individuals aged 10 years and above own a mobile phone. Universal ownership, defined as an ownership rate of at least 95 per cent, has been reached in high-income economies, while upper-middle-income economies have already surpassed the 90 per cent mark.

Once again, the report found that in low-income economies, only 57 per cent of individuals aged 10 years and above own a mobile phone. +