China, India continue to have most number of Internet users

Almost 3.8 billion people, or more than half of the world’s population is on the Internet, and India accounts for 12% of the digital citizenry, according to Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2019 report. China continues to be on top of the list, accounting for 21% of the total Internet users.

The United States continues to occupy the third position with 8%, after being toppled by India in 2016. Interestingly, the report says that people in the U.S. now spend more time on their mobile than they do on watching television.

Source: Mary Meeker Internet Trends 2019. United Nations / International Telecommunications Union, USA Census Bureau. Pew Research (USA), China Internet Network Information Center (China), Islamic Republic News Agency / InternetWorldStats/Bond estimates (Iran), Bond estimates based on IAMAI data (India), & APJII (Indonesia).

The 333-slide report, published by venture capitalist Mary Meeker, also found global Internet user growth to be solid at 6%, but lower than last year’s 7%. The number of Internet users is roughly 51%, more than double from 24% in 2009. The report says that new growth will be harder to find as evinced by declining new smartphone shipments in 2018.

“While Internet user growth is slowing, global innovation and competition continue to drive product improvements, new types of usage and monetisation—especially in areas of digital video, voice, wearables, on-demand + local services and traditionally underserved markets,” according to the report.

Region-wise, Asia Pacific is where 53% of the total Internet users are concentrated, but the Internet penetration is less than half of the population. Europe accounts for 15% of the Internet user base, Africa and Middle East were at 13%. Latin America and the Caribbean account for 10%, while North America has 9% of the total Internet users. North America, however, has the highest Internet penetration, at 89% of the population.

The U.S. and China also account for the largest Internet companies in the world. In terms of global Internet market cap leaders, the U.S. accounted for 18 of the 30 largest Internet companies, while China had seven. The report also says that the highest-valued companies in the world are tech companies—Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Google parent Alphabet.

“While e-commerce continues to gain share versus physical retail, growth rates are slowing. While Internet advertising growth is solid and innovation is healthy, there are areas where customer acquisition costs may be rising to unsustainable levels,” the report said.

The report also says that 87% of the web traffic in the first quarter of 2019 was encrypted, compared with 53% in the corresponding quarter in 2016.