Monday, January 28, 2008

Worldwide Online Population Forecast

In its "Worldwide Online Population Forecast, 2006 to 2011, Jupiter Research anticipates that a 38 percent increase in the number of people with online access will mean that, by 2011, 22 percent of the Earth's population will surf the Internet regularly.
Jupiter Research says the worldwide online population will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6 percent during the next five years, far outpacing the 1.1 percent compound annual growth rate for the planet's population as a whole. The report says 1.1 billion people currently enjoy regular access to the Web.
North America will remain on top in terms of the number of people with online access. According to Jupiter Research, online penetration rates on the continent will increase from the current 70 percent of the overall North American population to 76 percent by 2011. However, Internet adoption has "matured," and its adoption pace has slowed, in more developed countries including the United States, Canada, Japan and much of Western Europe, notes the report.
As the online population of the United States and Canada grows by about only 3 percent, explosive adoption rates in China and India will take place, says Jupiter Research. The report says China should reach an online penetration rate of 17 percent by 2011 and India should hit 7 percent during the same time frame. This growth is directly related to infrastructure development and increased consumer purchasing power, notes Jupiter Research.
By 2011, Asians will make up about 42 percent of the world's population with regular Internet access, 5 percent more than today, says the study.
Penetration levels similar to North America's are found in Scandinavia and bigger Western European nations such as the United Kingdom and Germany, but Jupiter Research says that a number of Central European countries "are relative Internet laggards."
Brazil "with its soaring economy," is predicted by Jupiter Research to experience a 9 percent compound annual growth rate, the fastest in Latin America, but China and India are likely to do the most to boost the world's online penetration in the near future.
For the study, Jupiter Research defined "online users" as people who regularly access the Internet by "dedicated Internet access" devices. Those devices do not include cell phones.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What about Indonesia? Looks like Jupiter Research forget or simply not interested in conducting research in Indonesia. However, of course we expect internet technology in Indonesia is growing in a controlled manner. To look out for is the internet technology not only has the favorable factors but also bring adverse factors. There are pros and there are cons that should always be wary of welcoming the development of the Internet in Indonesia.