Every source behind Two Thirds Online, One Third Left Behind: The Stubborn Digital Divide, and the claims they support.
About 5.5 billion people, roughly 68% of the global population, were online in 2024.
high confidence · supported
Direct from ITU's Facts & Figures 2024 and its 27 November 2024 press release, corroborated by the World Bank IT.NET.USER.ZS series.
A stark structural divide persists: about 93% penetration in high-income countries versus 27% in low-income countries, and 83% urban versus 48% rural.
high confidence · supported
Demographic breakdowns reported directly in the ITU 2024 release.
Sustained digital-infrastructure investment is the primary lever raising the share of population using the internet.
high confidence · supported
Factrail model linkage assigning a strong positive impact from the infrastructure-investment driver to the penetration indicator at roughly a one-year lag.
The 2024 reading of 68% sits about 32 percentage points below Factrail's aspirational universal-connectivity normal line of 100%.
high confidence · supported
Arithmetic against the indicator's stated normal-line basis (universal connectivity = 100%) per ITU/UN framing.
The precise penetration level is uncertain, ranging roughly 63-68% across sources and revision vintages after ITU revised its 2023 estimate upward.
medium confidence · partially supported
Indicator notes and the Our World in Data series document a 63-67% range and ITU's upward revision; the spread reflects methodology vintage, not a contested fact.
| Source | Publisher | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Global Internet use continues to rise but disparities remain | International Telecommunication Union (ITU) | press_release |
| Facts and Figures 2024 - Internet use | International Telecommunication Union (ITU) | report |
| Internet - Our World in Data | Our World in Data |
| report |
| Individuals using the Internet (% of population) | World Bank (World Development Indicators, IT.NET.USER.ZS) | dataset |