Law in Charts · Business, tax and the economy

People who use the internet, over time

How has internet use grown in nine countries since 2000?

% of the population using the internet

Source: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), uri: https://datahub.itu.int/, Individuals using the Internet (% of population), via the World Bank. Data for 2000 to 2025. What it counts, how to cite it and the data

At a glance

United States: 43.1% in 2000, 94.7% in 2024.
United Kingdom: 26.8% in 2000, 95.5% in 2024.
Germany: 30.2% in 2000, 93.5% in 2024.
France: 14.3% in 2000, 88.7% in 2024.
India: 0.5% in 2000, 70.0% in 2025.
Brazil: 2.9% in 2000, 84.5% in 2024.
Japan: 30.0% in 2000, 85.5% in 2024.
South Africa: 5.3% in 2000, 78.4% in 2024.
Bulgaria: 5.4% in 2000, 82.4% in 2024.

The countries shown are a selection from different regions and legal traditions, chosen for the length of their data and not for any result.

What it counts

Individuals who used the internet from any location in the last three months, as a share of the population.

What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison

Countries estimate use from surveys or subscriber data of different quality, so a line can step when the method changes. It shows that something changed, not why.

Source

World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), uri: https://datahub.itu.int/: Individuals using the Internet (% of population), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.

Cite this chart

Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.

Reference (APA style)

TheLawToKnow. (2026). People who use the internet, over time [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/internet-users-trend. Data: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), uri: https://datahub.itu.int/, Individuals using the Internet (% of population), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).

Short credit for slides and websites

Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/internet-users-trend). Data: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), uri: https://datahub.itu.int/, via World Bank, World Development Indicators.

BibTeX

@misc{internetuserstrend2026,
  author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
  title = {People who use the internet, over time},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Law in Charts},
  url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/internet-users-trend},
  note = {Data: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), uri: https://datahub.itu.int/, Individuals using the Internet (% of population), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
}

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