FACTS AND FIGURES

ICT

2017

70% OF THE WORLD’S YOUTH ARE ONLINE

Proportion of youth (15-24) using the Internet, 2017*

“This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector. Over the past two and a half dec-ades, ITU has contributed to the unprec-edented development of ICTs worldwide and the wider transformation they have brought to society. Our new data show that young people are at the forefront of today’s digital economy with 70 per cent of the world’s youth being online. Today’s ICT development is driven by the spread of mobile-broadband services. The growth of mobile broadband has largely outpaced that of fixed broadband, while mobile-broadband prices have dropped by 50 per cent on average over the last three years. These factors have resulted in about half of the world’s population get-ting online and broadband services being available at much higher speeds.

As ICTs continue to be a key enabler of economic and social development, ITU has a pivotal role in the global efforts to bridge the digital divide and in fostering an inclusive digital economy. I am confident that the discussions at the World Telecommunication De-velopment Conference 2017, to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 9 to 20 October 2017, under the theme of “ICT for Sustainable Development Goals”, will contribute to the mapping of results-ori-ented strategies aimed at hastening the pace of countries towards the timely attainment of the SDGs and their related targets.”

Source: ITU. Note: * Estimates.

Brahima Sanou, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau

In 104 countries, more than 80% of the youth population are online.

In developed countries, 94% of young people aged 15-24 use the Internet compared with 67% in developing countries and only 30% in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Out of the 830 million young people who are online, 320 million (39%) are in China and India.

Nearly 9 out of 10 young individuals not using the Internet live in Africa or Asia and the Pacific.

YOUTH ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF INTERNET ADOPTIONProportion of individuals using the Internet, by age, 2017*

Proportion of youth (15-24) Internet users and youth in the population, 2017*

Proportion of households with Internet access, 2017*

79.6

67.7 65.9

43.9 43.7

21.8

48.0

17.5

41.3

81.0

95.7 89.6 88.4

72.3 64.2

40.3

70.6

30.3

67.3

94.3

Europe CIS TheAmericas

Asia &Pacific

Arab States Africa World LDCs Developing Developed

Total population Ages 15-24

Source: ITU. Note: * Estimates. CIS refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States. Proportions in this chart refer to the number of people using the Internet, as a percentage of the total population, and the number of people aged 15-24 using the Internet, as a percentage of the total population aged 15-24, respectively.

Source: ITU. Note: * Estimates. CIS refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States. Proportions in this chart refer to the number of people aged 15-24 using the Internet, as a percentage of the total population using the Internet, and the number of people aged 15-24, as a percentage of the total population, respectively.

Source: ITU. Note: * Estimates. CIS refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States.

37.3

26.3 25.8 21.0

15.8 13.8

23.4

13.0

27.6

35.1

20.1 17.9

15.7 15.7 11.9 11.5

15.9

11.2

16.8 20.3

Africa Arab States Asia &Pacific

TheAmericas

CIS Europe World Developed Developing LDCs

Proportion of youth (15-24) Internet users Proportion of youth (15-24) in the population

84.2

70.4 65.3

48.1 47.2

18.0

53.6

14.7

42.9

84.4

Europe CIS TheAmericas

Asia &Pacific

Arab States Africa World LDCs Developing Developed

The proportion of young people aged 15-24 using the Internet (71%) is significantly higher than the proportion of the total population using the Internet (48%).

Young people represent almost one-fourth of the total number of individuals using the Internet worldwide.

In LDCs, 35% of the individuals using the Internet are young people aged 15-24, compared with 13% in developed countries and 23% globally.

In developed countries, the proportion of households with Internet access at home is twice as high as in developing countries.

Only 15% of households in LDCs have Internet access at home. In these countries, many Internet users are accessing the Internet from work, schools and universities or from other shared public connections outside the home.

Proportion of individuals using the Internet, by gender, 2017*

The proportion of women using the Internet is 12% lower than the proportion of men using the Internet worldwide.

While the gender gap has narrowed in most regions since 2013, it has widened in Africa. In Africa, the proportion of women using the Internet is 25% lower than the proportion of men using the Internet.

In LDCs, only one out of seven women is using the Internet compared with one out of five men.

Source: ITU. Note: * Estimates. Penetration rates in this chart refer to the number of women/men using the Internet, as a percentage of the respective total female/male population. CIS refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Source: ITU. Note: * Estimates. The gender gap represents the difference between the Internet user penetration rates for males and females relative to the Internet user penetration rate for males, expressed as a percentage. CIS refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States.

14.1

37.5

79.9

44.9

76.3

65.8

66.7

39.7

39.4

18.6

21.0

44.7

82.2

50.9

82.9

69.8

65.1

47.9

47.7

24.9

LDCs

Developing

Developed

World

Europe

CIS

The Americas

Asia & Pacific

Arab States

Africa

Male Female

20.7

19.2

17.4

9.4

7.5

- 0.4

11.0

5.8

15.8

29.9

25.3

17.3

17.1

7.9

5.8

-2.6

11.6

2.8

16.1

32.9

Africa ArabStates

Asia &Pacific

Europe CIS TheAmericas

World Developed Developing LDCs

2013 2017

THE DIGITAL GENDER GAP PERSISTS

The proportion of men using the Internet is higher than the proportion of women using the Internet in two-thirds of countries worldwide.

There is a strong link between gender parity in the enrollment ratio in tertiary education and gender parity in Internet use.

The only region where a higher percentage of women than men are using the Internet is the Americas, where countries also score highly on gender parity in tertiary education.

Internet penetration rate for men and women, 2017*

Internet user gender gap (%), 2013 and 2017*

Source: ITU. Note: * Estimates. Proportions in this chart refer to the number of women/men using the Internet, as a percentage of the respective total female/male population.

BROADBAND IS INCREASINGLY MOBILE

0 15 30 45 60

World

Developed

Developing

LDCs

%0 20 40 60 80 100

Per 100 inhabitants

World

Developed

Developing

LDCs

Source: ITU. Note: *Estimates. CAGR refers to the compound annual growth rate.

Source: ITU. Note: *Estimates. CAGR refers to the compound annual growth rate.

0 15 30 45 60

World

Developed

Developing

LDCs

%0 10 20 30 40

Per 100 inhabitants

World

Developed

Developing

LDCs

Fixed-broadband subscriptions, 2017*Growth of fixed-broadband subscriptions, CAGR, 2012-2017*

Growth of mobile-broadband subscriptions, CAGR, 2012-2017*

Mobile-broadband subscriptions, 2017*

Mobile-broadband subscriptions have grown more than 20% annually in the last five years and are expected to reach 4.3 billion globally by end 2017.

Despite the high growth rates in developing countries and in LDCs, there are twice as many mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in developed countries as in developing countries, and four times as many in developed countries as in LDCs.

The global number of fixed-broadband subscriptions has increased by 9% annually in the last five years and 330 million new fixed-broadband subscriptions have been added.

Higher growth will be needed to bridge the divide between developed and developing countries: there are 31 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in developed countries against 9 in developing countries.

Fixed-broadband uptake remains very limited in LDCs, with only one subscription per 100 inhabitants.

MOBILE BROADBAND IS MORE AFFORDABLE THAN FIXED BROADBAND

Mobile broadband prices as a percentage of GNI per capita, 2016

Broadband prices as a percentage of GNI per capita, 2016

Broadband prices in PPP$, 2016

1.0 0.7

11.6

6.0

32.4

14.1

8.3

4.3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2013 2014 2015 2016

As a

% o

f GN

I p.c

.

Developed Developing LDCs WorldSource: ITU. Note: Based on simple averages including data for 136 countries. Prices are based on entry-level computer-based mobile-broadband plans with a minimum data allowance of 1 GB per month.

Source: ITU. Note: Based on simple averages including data for 167 countries. Prices are based on entry-level plans with a minimum data allowance of 1 GB per month. PPP$ refers to prices in international dollars, calculated using purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factors instead of market exchange rates.

Source: ITU. Note: Based on data available for 169 countries. Prices are based on entry-level plans with a minimum data allowance of 1 GB per month.

44 431

7361

1527

32

3435

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Mobile broadband Fixed broadband Mobile broadband Fixed broadband

Below 5% Above 5%

Num

ber o

f cou

ntrie

s

Developed Developing (excl. LDCs) LDCs

Broadband Commission target5% GNI p.c.

107.9

41.1

61.3

33.4

30.5

15.4

53.2

28.6

0 20 40 60 80 100

Fixed broadband

Mobile broadband

World

Developed

Developing

LDCs

Mobile broadband is more affordable than fixed-broadband services in most developing countries. However, mobile-broadband prices represent more than 5% of GNI per capita in most LDCs and are therefore unaffordable for the large majority of the population.

In LDCs, on average, an entry-level fixed-broadband subscription is 2.6 times more expensive than an entry-level mobile-broadband subscription.

Mobile-broadband prices as a percentage of GNI per capita halved between 2013 and 2016 worldwide.

The steepest decrease ocurred in LDCs, where prices fell from 32.4 to 14.1% of GNI p.c.

LDCs

Developing

World

Developed

Developed

Developing (excl. LDCs)

LDCs

FIBRE DEPLOYMENT IS INCREASING FIXED BROADBAND SPEEDS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIESFixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed

Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by technology, 2016

Source: ITU.

Source: ITU. Note: Data refer to early 2016. CIS refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States.

18.8

7.0

5.5

3.6

2.6

0.15

5.7

9.4

0.6

0.2 0.5

0.02

3.8

1.6

8.8

0.6

6.1

0.04

1.0

0.9 1.0

0.3 0.

9

0.05

Europe The Americas CIS Arab States Asia & Pacific Africa

DSL Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitantsCable modem Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitantsFTTH/B subscriptions per 100 inhabitantsOther fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

4.7

0.07

2.8

12.7

2.3

0.03 0.7

8.8

4.5

0.6

3.9

6.7

0.8 0.2

0.7 1.1

World LDCs Developing Developed

DSL Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

Cable modem Internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

FTTH/B subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

Other fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

Despite the worldwide increase in high-speed fixed-broadband subscriptions, there remains a lack of high-speed connections in the developing world, with a penetration rate of 6% (1.6% excluding China) compared with 24% in developed countries.

Most of the increase in high-speed fixed-broadband subscriptions in developing countries can be attributed to China, which accounts for 80% of all fixed-broadband subscriptions at 10 Mbit/s or above in developing countries.

Developing countries and LDCs are deploying fibre infrastructure directly, leapfrogging cable and DSL.

However, the proportion of fibre broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in developed countries is twice as high as in developing countries, and ten times higher than in LDCs.

The share of fibre in total fixed-broadband subscriptions is highest in the CIS and Asia and the Pacific.

0.9 0.8

6.0

21.4

1.70.5

4.5

24.0

0

5

10

15

20

Breakdown by speedNA

≥256 kbit/s to <2 Mbit/s

≥2 to <10 Mbit/s ≥10 Mbit/s

Developed countries

2015 2016

Per 1

00 in

habi

tant

s

Developed countries

0.9 0.62.0

4.1

0.9 0.6 1.2

6.1

0

5

10

15

20

Breakdown by speedNA

≥256 kbit/s to <2 Mbit/s

≥2 to <10 Mbit/s ≥10 Mbit/s

Developing countries

2015 2016Pe

r 100

inha

bita

nts

Developing countries

INTERNATIONAL BANDWIDTH UP TELECOMMUNICATION REVENUES DOWN

Telecommunication revenues, world and by level of development

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Gbi

t/s

Europe Asia & Pacific The Americas CIS Arab States Africa

653

140

394851

5991

178

0 50 100 150 200

LDCs

Developed

Arab States

AfricaCIS

The Americas

Asia & Pacific

Developing

Europe

kbit/s per Internet user

Source: ITU. Note: CIS refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States.

0

500

1 000

1 500

2 000

2 500

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Billi

on U

SD

WorldDevelopedDeveloping

Source: ITU.

International Internet bandwidth in Gbit/s, per region, 2008-2016

International Internet bandwidth per Internet user in kbit/s, 2016

International Internet bandwidth grew worldwide by 32% between 2015 and 2016. Africa experienced an increase of 72% during this period, the highest of all regions.

Global telecommunication revenues declined by 4% between 2014 and 2015, falling back to USD 1.9 trillion.

Developing countries saw a compound annual growth rate in telecommunication revenue of 6.6% in the period 2007-2015, whereas developed countries experienced a contraction of -0.8% during the same period.

Developing countries are home to 83% of the global population but generate only 39% of the world’s telecommunication revenues.

Europe

Asia & Pacific

CIS

Arab States

The Americas

Africa

World

Developed

Developing

For more information:ICT Data and Statistics DivisionTelecommunication Development BureauInternational Telecommunication UnionPlace des Nations1211 Geneva 20 - Switzerlandindicators@itu.intwww.itu.int/ict

Printed in Switzerland Geneva, July 2017© International Telecommunication Union

ITU 15th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS), 14-16 November 2017, Tunisia www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/events/wtis2017/default.aspx

ITU Measuring the Information Society Report 2016 www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis2016.aspx

ITU Yearbook of Statistics 2016 www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/yb2016.aspx

ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx

• Results of the ICT Development Index, ITU’s key benchmarking tool

•Key ICT indicators• Global, regional and

national comparisons

ITU DATA VISUALISATION TOOL

www.itu.int/IDI2016