Mapped: How Much of Each Country Is Online?

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-how-much-of-each-country-is-online/

How Internet Usage Compares Around the World​

Key Takeaways:​

• Four countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE—report 100% internet usage.
• Africa has some of the lowest internet adoption rates, with just 35.0% of Kenyans and 41.2% of Nigerians online.
• Europe, North America, and Australia have widespread internet adoption, while parts of Asia and South America show substantial disparities.

Internet access has become essential to modern life, but billions of people remain disconnected from the digital world.

This visualization, created by Iswardi Ishak, maps internet usage across countries using 2025 data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with 2024 figures substituted where unavailable.

Denmark (99.8%) and Luxembourg (99.1%) are also approaching universal internet usage. At the opposite extreme, Afghanistan has just 16.1% internet usage, highlighting the enormous gap between the world’s most and least connected populations.

Why Is Internet Usage Lower in Parts of Africa?​

Some of the world’s largest connectivity gaps are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Internet usage stands at 41.2% in Nigeria, 35.0% in Kenya, and just 29.7% in Zambia.

Limited telecommunications infrastructure and high mobile data costs remain major obstacles, particularly in rural communities where extending networks can be expensive.

Closing these gaps requires more than expanding network coverage. Making internet access affordable is equally important.

Asia’s Digital Divide Goes Beyond Network Coverage​

Asia is home to some of the world’s most connected populations, including Malaysia (98.3%), Singapore (97.4%), and South Korea (96.1%). Meanwhile, internet usage is substantially lower in India (70.0%) and the Philippines (67.3%).

According to the GSMA, 1.2 billion people across developing Asia-Pacific remained offline despite widespread mobile network coverage. This highlights how device affordability, digital literacy, and mobile data costs can be just as important as network availability.

Europe and North America Lead, While South America Catches Up​

Europe benefits from mature telecommunications infrastructure and coordinated connectivity policies. Meanwhile, Canada (94.4%), the U.S. (94.7%), and Australia (96.1%) demonstrate similarly high adoption rates. These countries also rank among the world’s digital leaders, although rural connectivity gaps persist.

South America presents a mixed picture. Chile (95.6%) and Uruguay (92.0%) have high internet adoption rates, while Colombia (79.4%) trails behind. Geographic and income barriers, along with the high cost of broadband infrastructure, continue to constrain access across parts of the region.