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While it may feel like everyone is glued to their screens and scrolling constantly, a new report shows that we shouldn’t take internet access for granted.
In the latest installment of its Facts and Figures report, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) states that in low income countries, only 27% of people have internet access, compared to 93% in high-income countries. The ITU is the United Nations’ digital technology agency.
Broken down by continent, about 90% of the populations of North America, South America, and Europe have internet access. But in Africa, an average of only 38% of people are online.
In a press release, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the ITU’s secretary-general, called the disparity “a tale of two digital realities between high-income and low-income countries.”
“Stark gaps in critical connectivity indicators are cutting off the most vulnerable people from online access to information, education, and employment opportunities,” Bogdan-Martin said. “This report is a reminder that true progress in our interconnected world isn’t just about how fast we move forward, but about making sure everyone moves forward together."
Those divergent digital realities show up in the difference in connectivity in urban and rural areas. Less than half the global population in rural areas has access to the internet, whereas more than 80% of the global urban population does.
But some demographic gaps are closing. There’s only a five percentage point difference between men’s and women’s internet access (70% of men and 65% of women worldwide), and only a 13% difference between young adults and older individuals (79% of people ages 15–24 are online, compared to 66% of people older than 24).
Overall, Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, the director of the ITU’s Development Bureau, said that “the world is inching towards universal access at a time that it should be sprinting.”
“While we continue to make progress on connectivity, our advances mask significant gaps in the world’s most vulnerable communities, where digital exclusion makes life even more challenging,” Zavazava said in the press release. “We must intensify our efforts to remove the barriers that keep people offline and close the usage gap, and renew our commitment to achieving universal and meaningful connectivity, so that everyone can access the internet.”