Book People Archive

Internet Statistics for 2005





I have been compling Internet statistics for some years now,
and thought you might be interested in this latest batch.

As you can see from the language highlights, we probably now
have around a billion Internet users in the world as numbers
are contiually increasing and this data is already old.

I hope you find some of this worthwhile, let me know.

Michael S. Hart
Internet User ~100
Founder
Project Gutenberg

*

Google has the largest share of U.S. Web searches with 46 percent,
according to November 2005 figures from Nielsen//NetRatings.
Yahoo is second with 23 percent, and MSN third with 11 percent.

[Please note that each reduction is by just about eactly half!]

46% Google
23% Yahoo
11% MSN
---
80% Top 3


From "Estimating the number of Internet users:"
http://www.blogcadre.com/blog/jason_striegel/weighing_the_internet_2005_07_13


Using this technique, the author computes a total of 471 million
internet users. This is the average who are online in a particular day,
and represents 7.2% of the world population.

Using different methods, http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/ estimates
a total of 880+ million users, or 13.6% of the world population.

*

The following lists the top ten language in use on the Internet,
and how rapidly they grew from 2000 to 2005.

Given how little the .com boomers paid attention to the fact the
Internet had already reached 50% of the United States back when,
I should warn you that NONE of the listings below can double the
percentage again once they have gotten close to 50% penetration!

I know this seems obvious, but somehow all those billionaires in
the .com boom figured out a way to miss it, went down in flames!

Take English, for example:

At a 28% penetration level, even if you managed to get every one
of the English speaking people in the world on the Internet from
2005-2010, the next such study could NOT show two more doublings
of this percentage. . .at 25% you will just barely theoretically
be able to double twice more, but that's only theoretically.

China, at just over 9% could double only three more times, but a
fourth doubling would be impossible. . .however, just ONE double
from now will likely put Chinese ahead of English as the default
language of the most Internet users.

Chinese
Doubling
  9%
18%
36%
72%

Even Dutch, at only 1.5% of the world, can never double again,
as their penetration is already well over 50%, as are various
Scandinavian languages that have high penetration but too low
a population to make such charts.

*


Taken mainly from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm


The Top Ten Languages Used in the Web
(Number of Users of the Internet by Language)


TOP TEN LANGUAGES
IN THE INTERNET


972,828,001          World Internet Users, All Languages

100%                 % of all World Internet Users

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

15.2%                Internet Penetration of All Language

169.5%               Internet Growth For All Languages (2000 - 2005)



   310,743,832        Internet Users, English Language

         31.9%        English % of all World Internet Users

1,107,807,851        World Population Estimate for English Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

         28.1%        Internet Penetration of English Language

        126.6%        Internet Growth For English Language (2000 - 2005)



   124,301,513        Internet Users, Chinese Language

          12.8%       Chinese % of all World Internet Users

  1,329,801,131       World Population Estimate for Chinese Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

           9.3%       Internet Penetration of Chinese Language

         284.8%       Internet Growth For Chinese Language (2000 - 2005)



     78,050,000       World Internet Users, Japanese Language

           8.0%       Japanese % of all World Internet Users

    128,137,485       World Population Estimate for Japanese Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

          60.9%       Internet Penetration of Japanese Language

          65.8%       Internet Growth For Japanese Language (2000 - 2005)



     62,959,431       World Internet Users, Spanish Language

           6.5%       Spanish % of all World Internet Users

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

    389,587,559       World Population Estimate for Spanish Language

          16.2%       Internet Penetration of Spanish Language

         159.7%       Internet Growth For Spanish Language (2000 - 2005)



     40,124,900       World Internet Users, French Language

           4.1%       French % of all World Internet Users

    374,555,140       World Population Estimate for French Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

          10.7%       Internet Penetration of French Language

         228.9%       Internet Growth For French Language (2000 - 2005)



     32,570,000       World Internet Users, Korean Language

           3.3%       Korean % of all World Internet Users

     73,044,495       World Population Estimate for Korean Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

          44.6%       Internet Penetration of Korean Language

         228.9%       Internet Growth For Korean Language (2000 - 2005)



     28,870,000       World Internet Users, Italian Language

           3.0%       Italian % of all World Internet Users

     58,608,565       World Population Estimate for Italian Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

          49.3%       Internet Penetration of Italian Language

         118.7%       Internet Growth For Italian Language (2000 - 2005)



     28,792,000       World Internet Users, Portuguese Language

           3.0%       Italian % of all World Internet Users

    227,628,673       World Population Estimate for Italian Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

          12.6%       Internet Penetration of Italian Language

         280.0%       Internet Growth For Italian Language (2000 - 2005)



     14,655,328       World Internet Users, Dutch Language

           1.5%       Dutch % of all World Internet Users

     24,685,673       World Population Estimate for Dutch Language

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

          59.5%       Internet Penetration of Dutch Language

         171.2%       Internet Growth For Dutch Language (2000 - 2005)



    776,280,399       World Internet Users, Top Ten Languages

          79.8%       Top Ten % of all World Internet Users

  3,809,997,729       World Population Estimate for Top Ten Languages

  6,420,102,722       World Population Estimate for All Languages

         20.4%        Internet Penetration of Top Ten Languages

         138.3%       Internet Growth For Top Ten Languages (2000 - 2005)


    196,547,602       World Internet Users, Other Languages

          20.2%       Other Language % of all World Internet Users

   2,610,104,993      World Population Estimate for Other Languages

6,420,102,722        World Population Estimate for All Languages

          7.5%        Internet Penetration of Other Languages

         459.0%       Internet Growth For Other Language (2000 - 2005)


(*)  NOTES: (1) Internet Top Ten Languages Usage Stats were updated on
November  30,  2005. (2) Internet Penetration is the ratio between the
sum  of  Internet  users  speaking a language and the total population
estimate  that  speaks  that  referred  language.  (3) The most recent
Internet    usage   information   comes   from   data   published   by
Nielsen//NetRatings,  International Telecommunications Union, Computer
Industry  Almanac,  and  other  reliable sources. (4) World population
information   comes  from  the  world  gazetteer  web  site.  (5)  For
definitions and navigation help, see the Site Surfing Guide. (6) Stats
may  be cited, stating the source and establishing an active link back
to  Internet  World  Stats.  )Copyright 2005, Miniwatts International,
Ltd. All rights reserved.

Examples for data interpretation:
-  There  are  62,959,431  Spanish speaking people using the Internet,
this represents 6.5 % of all the Internet users.
-  Out  of  the  estimated  389,587,559  world  population that speaks
Spanish, 16.2 % use the Internet.
-  The  number of Spanish Speaking Internet Users has grown 159.7 % in
the last five years (2000-2005).

***

United States

296,208,476  Population  (Est. 2005)

203,576,811  Internet Users

68.7%        % Population (Penetration)

90.8 %       % Users in North America

113.5 %      % Use Growth ( 2000-2005 )

NOTES: (1) Internet Usage and Population Statistics for North America
were updated on November 21, 2005. (2) CLICK on country names to see
detailed data for individual countries and regions. (3) Population
numbers are based on data contained in world gazetteer. (4) The most
recent usage comes mainly from data published by Nielsen//NetRatings ,
ITU , and other local sources. (5) Data on this site may be cited,
giving due credit and establishing an active link back to Internet
World Stats . (6) For definitions and help, see the site surfing
guide. )Copyright 2005, Miniwatts International, Ltd. All rights
reserved.


*

Also From: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Listing by Continent, in alphabetica order:


World Internet Statistics

    6,420,102,722       World Population (Est. 2005)

    Current World Population
    [Available Weekly in PT1b of the Project Gutenberg Newsletter]

              100%      Population % of World

       972,828,001      Internet Usage

             15.2%      % Population (Penetration)

            100.0%      Usage % of World

            169.5%      Usage Growth 2000-2005


Africa Internet Statistics

       896,721,874      Africa Population (Est. 2005)

             14.0%      Africa's Population % of World

        23,917,500      African Internet Usage

              2.7%      % African Population (Penetration)

              2.5%      African Usage % of World

            429.8%      African Usage Growth 2000-2005


Asia Internet Statistics

     3,622,994,130      Asian Population (Est. 2005)

             56.4%      Asian Population % of World

       332,590,713      Asian Internet Usage

              9.2%      % Asian Population (Penetration)

             34.2%      Asian Usage % of World

            191.0%      Asian Usage Growth 2000-2005


Europe Internet Statistics

       804,574,696      European Population (Est. 2005)

             12.5%      European Population % of World

       285,408,118      European Internet Usage

             35.5%      % European Population (Penetration)

             29.3%      European Usage % of World

            171.6%      European Usage Growth 2000-2005


Middle East Internet Statistics

       187,258,006      Middle Eastern Population (Est. 2005)

              2.9%      Middle Eastern Population % of World

        16,163,500      Middle Eastern Internet Usage

              8.6%      % Middle Eastern Population (Penetration)

              1.7%      Middle Eastern Usage % of World

            392.1%      Middle Eastern Usage Growth 2000-2005


North America Internet Statistics

       328,387,059      North American Population (Est. 2005)

               5.1%     North American Population % of World

        224,103,811     North American Internet Usage

             68.2%      % North American Population (Penetration)

             23.0%      North American Usage % of World

            107.3%      North American Usage Growth 2000-2005


Latin America/Caribbean Internet Statistics

       546,723,509      Latin America/Caribbean Population (Est. 2005)

              8.5%      Latin America/Caribbean Population % of World

        72,953,597      Latin America/Caribbean Internet Usage

             13.3%      % Latin America/Caribbean Population (Penetration)

              7.5%      Latin America/Caribbean Usage % of World

            303.8%      Latin America/Caribbean Usage Growth 2000-2005


Oceania / Australia Internet Statistics

         33,443,448     Oceanian / Australian Population (Est. 2005)

               0.5%     Oceanian / Australian Population % of World

         17,690,762     Oceanian / Australian Internet Usage

             52.9%      % Oceanian / Australian Population (Penetration)

              1.8%      Oceanian / Australian Usage % of World

            132.2%      Oceanian / Australian Usage Growth 2000-2005


NOTES: (1) Internet Usage and World Population Statistics were updated
on November 21, 2005. (2) CLICK on each world region for detailed
regional information. (3) Demographic (Population) numbers are based
on data contained in the world-gazetteer website. (4) Internet usage
information comes from data published by Nielsen//NetRatings, by the
International Telecommunications Union, by local NICs, and by other
other reliable sources. (5) For definitions, disclaimer, and
navigation help, see the Site Surfing Guide. (6) Information from this
site may be cited, giving due credit and establishing an active link
back to www.internetworldstats.com. (C)Copyright 2005, Miniwatts
International, Ltd. All rights reserved.