This represents 2.7 billion people. They were 3.6 billion in 2019 and 3 billion in 2021.
Le Monde with AFP
In 2022, a third of the world’s population is deprived of internet access, according to statistics from the United Nations (UN) published Friday . “Some 5.3 billion people worldwide now use the Internet. Although continuous growth is encouraging, the trend suggests that, without additional investments in infrastructure and a new impetus to arouse new digital know-how, the chances of Connect the world’s population by 2030 to be thinner, “said the International Telecommunications Union (IUT). This United Nations agency, located in Geneva, is devoted to development specializing in information and communication technologies.
If, this year, 2.7 billion people still do not have internet access, they were 3 billion in 2021 and 3.6 billion in 2019, just before the pandemic of COVVI-19.
This “gave us a good boost in terms of connectivity, but we must support the same rate to ensure that everyone can benefit” digital, said Houlin Zhao, secretary general of the uit. “This can only be done with more investments in digital networks and technologies, a regulation inspired by the best examples and training,” he added.
of strong disparities
The ITU has identified two main obstacles to its objective of a fully connected world population: populations that are still not connected are also the most difficult to reach; Difficulties to move from simple access to regular and easy access. The IUT believes that obstacles – overly slow connection speeds, too high prices for equipment and subscriptions, lack of digital culture, cultural and linguistic barriers, gender discrimination and sometimes simple lack of access Electricity-are often underestimated.
“If the increase in the number of people using the Internet worldwide is encouraging, we cannot simply ensure that the strong growth observed in recent years will continue,” warned the American Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director responsible for development at the ITU.
Regional disparities remain strong. Africa is the least connected of the six regions of ITU, with 40 % of the online population. In Arab countries, this rate is 70 %. In Asia-Pacific, the internet penetration rate increased from 61 % in 2021 to 64 % this year. The Americas, the community of independent states and Europe (at the top of this ranking with 89 %) display rates of more than 80 % of their connected population.