List of top 100 countries by number of Internet users

Over the last two decades, the numbers of global Internet users have skyrocketed. If this was a measure of economic performance, then it would be possible for all countries to be said have made significant developments over the same time. In fact, some countries, such as Nigeria and Bangladesh, have seen an increase in internet users as big as 40,000%! Although the use of Internet has been accompanied, in many cases, with developments in ICT and other economic sectors, there are significant populations remaining under the poverty line in countries where Internet use has become widespread.

Which Country Has the Most Internet Users?

• China
  China has the highest number of internet users in the world, with over 746 million users. China has a population of over one billion, and a vast internet network that has been expanded in recent years. Chinese internet users have nearly doubled in numbers over the past decade. The strongest increase has been among mobile internet users, who access the internet on smart phones, which is very popular in China.
• India
  India has the world's second highest number of internet users, with 391 million users connected. In India, the majority of internet users are found in the urban areas, as there is less access in the rural areas of the country. Like China, the primary link between the population and the internet is mobile smart phones.
• United States
  There are roughly 245 million internet users in the United States, representing nearly 80% of the entire population. The United States was the birthplace of the internet, and has one of the highest percentages of internet users in the world today. The majority of internet access in the United States is made through broadband internet connections.
• Brazil
  Internet users in Brazil number 123 million, making the country the world's fourth most connected. Brazil does not only rank highly when it comes to number of internet users - Brazilians are also among the nationalities who spend the most time surfing the internet. One of the reasons behind the popularity of the internet in Brazil is the popularity of social media sites such as Facebook.
• Japan
  Japan ranks fifth in terms of internet usage, with approximately 117 internet users. Japan was an early adopted of the internet. High speed internet has been available in the country since the early 2000s, and in the 1990s Japan was even the birthplace of the world's first mobile Internet service, called iMode. 

The Future of Global Internet 

Every year, the amount of people using the internet to share data increases. This is a trend that is only expected to increase. While these increases bring with them increased opportunities for people living in rural or impoverished, experts also worry that with the increased access comes increased concerns about privacy and cybercrimes.

Why is data so important?

At the heart of the internet is data – massive amounts of it. Volumes of data are growing at a rate of 40% per year and will increase 50 times by 2020. A measure of the speed of growth is the estimate from Singapore-based Aureus Analytics that 90% of all data in the world was created in the last two years.

As mobile usage goes up, so do personal data volumes. Over half (51%) of all internet users worldwide are in Asia: China has 1.3 billion mobile subscriptions out of a population of 1.36 billion, while India has 0.91 billion mobile subscriptions out of a 1.25 billion population.

But the amount of industrial data is growing even faster. Today Gartner estimates there are about 4.9 billion connected devices covering products from cars, homes, appliances and industrial equipment. This will reach 25 billion by 2020, driven by initiatives that introduce smart meters and more efficient street lighting.

List of top 100 countries by number of Internet users

Rank	Flag	Countries	Internet Users (in millions)
1		China	746,662,194
2		India	391,292,635
3		United States	245,436,423
4		Brazil	123,927,230
5		Japan	117,528,631
6		Russia	110,003,284
7		Mexico	75,937,568
8		Germany	73,436,503
9		Indonesia	66,244,991
10		Bangladesh	62,576,660
11		Philippines	57,342,723
12		France	55,413,854
13		Nigeria	47,743,541
14		South Korea	47,094,267
15		Turkey	46,395,500
16		United Kingdom	46,391,410
17		Iran	42,731,675
18		Egypt	37,519,531
19		Spain	37,337,607
20		Italy	36,442,438
21		Thailand	32,710,169
22		Canada	32,602,776
23		Argentina	30,758,972
24		South Africa	30,248,355
25		Pakistan	29,965,859
26		Vietnam	29,964,618
27		Colombia	28,287,098
28		Poland	28,018,492
29		Malaysia	24,572,446
30		Saudi Arabia	23,803,319
31		Ukraine	23,321,390
32		Australia	21,288,648
33		Morocco	20,555,783
34		Venezuela	18,940,907
35		Taiwan	18,786,473
36		Algeria	17,440,299
37		Ethiopia	15,739,371
38		Netherlands	15,358,245
39		Uzbekistan	14,713,955
40		Peru	14,444,387
41		Kazakhstan	13,814,581
42		Myanmar	13,258,325
43		Kenya	12,600,007
44		Chile	11,822,229
45		Romania	11,767,959
46		Sudan	11,082,072
47		Belgium	9,827,270
48		Ghana	9,779,273
49		Uganda	9,077,567
50		Sweden	9,002,326
51		Ecuador	8,857,767
52		United Arab Emirates	8,398,268
53		Czech Republic	8,115,252
54		Iraq	7,898,106
55		Hungary	7,730,451
56		Greece	7,726,829
57		Azerbaijan	7,605,244
58		Switzerland	7,511,995
59		Austria	7,346,074
60		Portugal	7,303,699
61		Tanzania	7,224,386
62		Yemen	6,780,200
63		Belarus	6,741,258
64		Sri Lanka	6,665,916
65		Israel	6,535,440
66		Dominican Republic	6,530,903
67		Hong Kong	6,375,381
68		Ivory Coast	6,286,527
69		Serbia	5,914,748
70		Jordan	5,890,965
71		Syria	5,873,785
72		Cameroon	5,859,797
73		Tunisia	5,801,972
74		Guatemala	5,722,610
75		Nepal	5,706,708
76		Denmark	5,538,800
77		Norway	5,112,817
78		Mozambique	5,050,924
79		Democratic Republic of the Congo	4,889,515
80		Finland	4,826,246
81		Lebanon	4,571,675
82		Singapore	4,554,189
83		Cuba	4,449,238
84		Slovakia	4,381,507
85		Bolivia	4,322,489
86		Bulgaria	4,266,773
87		Zambia	4,232,464
88		New Zealand	4,123,439
89		Cambodia	4,030,438
90		Senegal	3,954,620
91		Ireland	3,883,418
92		Angola	3,745,750
93		Zimbabwe	3,733,964
94		Afghanistan	3,673,539
95		Paraguay	3,453,445
96		Costa Rica	3,207,258
97		Kuwait	3,176,010
98		Oman	3,089,369
99		Croatia	3,063,044
100		Puerto Rico	2,946,059