An estimated 6.3 billion people, 76 per cent of the world's population, are using the internet in 2026, according to Facts and Figures 2026 from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), published on 3 November 2026. That is up from a revised 6.1 billion, or 74 per cent, in 2025. Some 2 billion people remain offline.
The gaps sit in income, location, gender and age. Internet use stands at 93 per cent in high-income countries and 32 per cent in low-income countries. Globally, 82 per cent of urban residents are online against 63 per cent of rural residents, and 79 per cent of men use the internet compared with 74 per cent of women. Among 15 to 24 year-olds the figure is 86 per cent, against 74 per cent for the rest of the population.
Network coverage shows the same split. About 97 per cent of the world's population lives within reach of at least a 3G network, and 5G reaches 59 per cent. That ranges from 86 per cent in high-income countries to 4 per cent in low-income countries. Average monthly mobile broadband traffic per subscription is 20 GB in high-income countries, roughly six times the 3.4 GB seen in low-income countries. Mobile phone ownership among people aged 10 and over is 84 per cent globally, and 57 per cent in low-income countries.
Prices are falling. The global median price of a data-only mobile broadband basket dropped to 1.2 per cent of gross national income (GNI) per capita, and a fixed broadband basket to 2.3 per cent. Landlocked developing countries and small island developing states both met the 2 per cent mobile affordability target for the first time. In least developed countries the median price is still 6.1 per cent of GNI per capita, and three in ten economies meet neither the fixed nor the mobile target.
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin tied the figures to AI. "In the age of AI, being offline means being shut out of countless opportunities, from education to employment," she said. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, added that without digital skills and meaningful connectivity, the benefits of new technologies risk staying out of reach for many.
The report notes that prior-year estimates are revised each edition as new data arrives, so year-on-year comparisons use the updated 2025 figures.
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