|
1. INTERNET
USAGE AND WORLD POPULATION STATISTICS
The World Population and Internet User information is the main
demographic content for this web site. It has been collected by
our webmaster since 2000 and is displayed in the statistics
pages. There are six individual statistical tables for the main
geographical regions of the world (Africa, America, Asia, Europe,
Middle East, and Oceania), also a general world summary page
called the big picture, a top usage countries table, a most penetrated
countries table, a most populated countries table and a unique
table containing Internet usage by languages. Other analysis are
being added periodically, for example: G8 country usage, Spanish
speakers, etc. For information on the sources, definitions, the
methodology and details about the data displayed please read the
following notes.
1.1 INTERNET USAGE
Before we can measure or forecast Internet Usage, we must first
answer a basic question: What is an Internet user? Research
firms, analysts, consultancies and other sources all disagree on
how to answer this seemingly simple question.
The ITU subscribes to the definition of an Internet user as
someone aged 2 years old and above, who went online in the past
30 days. The US Department of Commerce, in contrast, defines
Internet users as those 3 years or older who 'currently use' the
Internet. The CNNIC defines the Internet user as a Chinese
citizen, aged 6 or above, who uses the Internet at least one hour
per week. Other market researchers have there own
definitions.
We believe that a definition must be as general and as simple as
possible. For analyzing and comparing Internet users on a global
scale, IWS adopts as its benchmark a broad definition and defines
an Internet User as anyone currently in capacity to use the
Internet. In our opinion, there are only two requirements for
a person to be considered an Internet User:
(1) The person must have available access to an Internet connection point, and
(2) The person must have the basic knowledge required to use web technology.
That's it. No need to make complex something that is really
quite simple. In many Third World countries one same Internet
connection may be shared by many individual users. Due to this
reason, Internet users might outnumber the amount of Internet
access subscribers and also outnumber the telephone lines
available in each country.
|
1.2 INTERNET
GROWTH
In order to establish
the relative growth rate of the Internet on a global basis, we
compare the current (latest) Internet usage figures for each
country or region with the year 2000, our baseline year for Internet
usage figures, and express this ratio as a percentage. For information on the
Historic Internet Growth data please
click here,
a new page will open. For the
Current Internet World Usage Statistics, visit this
page.
|
1.3 INTERNET
PENETRATION RATE
The Internet Penetration Rate corresponds to the percentage of
the total population of a given country or region that uses the
Internet. Internet users are defined in 1.1. No adjustments have
been made for infants or illiteracy in the Internet penetration
rate calculations. Indeed very few countries have 100% literacy,
Norway is one of them. Regarding the children, they are early
adopters, when given the chance to surf the Internet.
For countries with
penetration rates above 50%, the data will be marked in
green in the corresponding pages.
The list of the countries with Internet Penetration Rates over 50% may be
found here. At
Internet World Stats we support the 50x15 Initiative and invite you
to do so also. Read about this important project for the future growth
of the Internet at the
Digital Divide page.
|
1.4 WORLD
POPULATION
It is important to point out that Internet usage and population
data go hand in hand. In order to determine the Internet
Penetration Rate (IPR) for each country and region of the
world we require accurate demographic data. Therefore the
population figures are updated regularly and correspond to the
best estimates available. World population estimates will be
updated on January 15/2007. Additional adjustments are made when
country census data becomes available. The population figures are based
on data published by Stefan Helder, and contained in the
excellent website: World Gazetteer, where you can also find detailed demographic
information for many towns and cities for all the countries of
the world.
Special note on China: Hong Kong (Xianggang) and
Macao (Aomen) are both part of China, but these
territories as well as Taiwan are reported separately for
Internet Usage Statistical purposes. Therefore the total
estimated population for China mainland has been adjusted
accordingly in our statistical tables and charts.
Special note on Mexico: For statistical reasons, and
according to the United Nationas Statistical Department, Mexico
has been included together with the Central American countries. See
United Nations Statistics
Division methods
and classifications of macro geographical (continental) regions,
geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other
groupings. Please take note that the continent of North America
comprises Northern America, the Caribbean, and Central America.
|
1.5 SOURCES FOR
THE STATISTICS
The Internet usage information displayed comes from various
sources: mainly from data published by Nielsen//NetRatings and by the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU).
Additional sources are Computer Industry
Almanac, the
CIA Fact Book, local NIC, local ISP, other public and
private sources, and direct information from trustworthy and
reliable research sources. Nielsen NetRating's data corresponds
to the home plus work panel current total digital media universe
estimate. For growth comparison purposes, usage stats from
ITU for the
year 2000 are utilized, when available, as explained above in
1.2.
Nielsen//NetRatings is a global standard for Internet
audience measurement and analysis and is the industry's premier
source for online advertising intelligence. It covers 70 percent
of the world's Internet usage, the Nielsen//NetRatings services
offer syndicated Internet and digital media research reports and
custom-tailored data to help companies gain valuable insight into
their business. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.
The International Telecommunications Union
(ITU) is an international
organization established in 1865, which today is part of
the United Nations. For further details and information,
please visit their web site at www.itu.int.
The Internet usage and population data presented here are the best
estimates available, however a reasonable margin of error should
be allowed for. Please refer to our Disclaimer in 1.9.
|
1.6 COUNTRY CODES
The ISO 3166-1 English short country names and codes are used in
the IWS website.
As of 23 July 2003 the ISO 3166-1 country code elements for
Serbia and Montenegro are:
CS (Alpha-2 code)
SCG
(Alpha-3 code)
891
(Numeric-3 code)
The code elements YU and YUG representing Yugoslavia are
obsolete now, and their use in applications of ISO 3166-1 should
be phased out. The deletion of Yugoslavia from ISO 3166-1 also
leads to the exclusion of the name in ISO 3166-3. See the
official ISO country list here.
|
1.7 GROSS NATIONAL INCOME (GNI) World Bank Atlas
Method
In calculating Gross
National Income (GNI—formerly referred to as GNP) and GNI
per capita in U.S. dollars for certain operational purposes,
the World Bank uses the Atlas conversion factor. The
purpose of the Atlas conversion factor
is to reduce the impact of
exchange rate fluctuations in the cross-country comparison of
national incomes.
|
Following current statistical practice,
the World Bank has recently adopted the new terminology in line
with the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA. The changes in
terms are listed below.
|
Previous terminology
|
New terminology
|
Gross national product, GNP
|
Gross national income, GNI
|
GNP per capita
|
GNI per capita
|
Private consumption
|
Household final consumption
expenditure
|
General government
consumption
|
General government final consumption
expenditure
|
Gross domestic investment
|
Gross capital formation
|
Many countries continue to
compile their national accounts according to the 1968 SNA, but
more and more are adopting the 1993 SNA. A few low-income
countries still use concepts from older SNA guidelines, including
valuations such as factor cost, in describing major economic
aggregates. In general, the definitions under the 1993 SNA
guidelines for these indicators remain as before, and only the
terminology has changed. Exceptions are: GNI in constant prices,
which differs from GNP in that it also includes terms of trade
adjustment; and gross capital formation which now includes a
third category of capital formation: net acquisition of
valuables. Included in gross capital formation under the 1993 SNA
are capital outlays on defense establishments that may be used by
the general public, such as schools, airfields, and hospitals.
These expenses were treated as consumption in the earlier version
of the SNA.
|
|
1.8
REPRODUCTION OF THE STATISTICS
The content of this website is intellectual property of its
owner. Data from this web site may be cited freely, giving due
credit to the original data sources and establishing an active
link back to InternetWorldStats.com. A notice of publication will be greatly
appreciated, and might be rewarded with a reciprocal link from
IWS back to your website.
For citing information sources, we recommend following
the Duke University
Guidelines. We also
recommend reading the following article before using materials
from the Internet.
1.9 DISCLAIMER
Most of the data in this site comes from independent sources,
found displayed freely in the wide world web. Here is a sample of
our information sources. Other data has been investigated and retrieved
directly by our staff. All the information has been consolidated
by IWS, giving due credit to the corresponding original sources
when these are known, and establishing a link back if possible.
IWS provides and published the data and displays statistics in
good faith but does not guarantee the accuracy or provenience.
Likewise IWS is not responsible for the use given to this
information. The Internet usage and population data are best estimates
available and a reasonable margin of error should be allowed for,
as is usual for all statistical work.
In the event that any owner of the information cited or the
sources opposes the publication of specific data, please let us
know by advising our webmaster. We will promptly remove said data
from our web site.
Visitors please take note that for statistical purposes Mexico
has been included in the Central American countries statistics,
according to the United Nations Statistics
Division methods
and classifications of macro geographical (continental) regions,
geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other
groupings. Turkey is included in the European statistics.
The designations employed and the presentation of material at
this site do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever
on our part concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is
for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption
regarding political or other affiliation of countries or
territories by the United Nations or by this web page.
To this date, no confirmed figures for Internet Usage have been
found for the following regions and territories of the world,
some very small and some uninhabited, which do not affect
significantly the overall statistical results:
AFRICA
1- Mayotte
2- Sahara (Western)
AMERICAS
1- Saint Pierre and Michelot
2- British Virgin Islands
3- Monserrat
4- Turk and Caicos Islands
ASIA
1- Korea, North - KP
EUROPE
1- Isle of Man
2- Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
OCEANIA
1- American Samoa - AS
2- Antarctica - AQ
3- Bouvet Island - BV
4- British Indian Ocean Territory - IO
5- Chistmas Island - CX
6- Palau - PW
7- Pitcairn Islands - PN
8- South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands
9- Terres Australes
10- Territories of Australia
11- Other Smaller Territories.
Forwarding of information on Internet Usage for the above
locations will be appreciated.
Hypertext
Links
This site contains links to sites operated by third parties over
which we have no control. IWS (Internet World Stats) makes
no representations whatsoever about any other Web site that you
may access through this one. Links imply neither that IWS
is affiliated with or otherwise endorses any third parties nor
that it is legally authorized to use any trademark, trade name,
logo, or copyright symbol displayed in or accessible through the
links, or that any linked site is authorized to use any
trademark, trade name, logo, or copyright symbol of
IWS.
^ return to
index
|