If you are reading this, you are almost certainly using the Internet. From email and streaming services to Wikipedia and online banking, the Internet has become a key part of our lives and economy.

But, as the latest numbers from the World Bank’s International Telecommunication Union show, not everyone is “on the Net.”

Approximately two-thirds of the world’s population (5.4 billion) were using the Internet in 2023.* That is a lot of users, but it means about 2.6 billion people were not online.

With that said the growth in Internet users has been astonishing, going from 15.6% of the global population in 2005 to 67.4% in less than 20 years.

Where people live is a key factor affecting Internet use. Over 90% of European residents were Internet users last year compared to 65.9% in the Asia-Pacific region and 37.1% in Africa.

In Canada, it’s 94.5% (as of 2022) which is just shy of the U.S. at 97.1%.**

The geographic differences are more about the level of a country’s development than its physical location with just 27.1% of the residents of low-income countries using the Internet compared to 93.2% in high-income countries. As the International Telecommunication Union points out, “this 66 percentage point gap reflects the width of the digital divide between high-income and low-income countries and regions.”

Internet usage is also higher among urban than rural residents. Globally, 81.2% of urban residents were online versus 50.4% of rural residents. In low-income countries, only 16.6% of rural residents were Internet users last year compared to 47.0% among urbanites.

The high level of Internet usage in Canada is undoubtedly an economic advantage, but it is also important to remember that the quality of that connectivity can vary greatly in terms of reliability, speed, access to software and services, training, and the hardware being used. These differences were cast into bold relief when students were engaged in remote learning during the pandemic.

The digital divide is, in other words, an issue both between countries and within them and Canada is no exception. Rapid technological advances have enabled more and more people to access the information, products and services available online, but that same rapid advancement can also exacerbate the gaps between the digital haves and have-nots.

*An internet user is defined by the International Telecommunication Union as anyone who has accessed the internet from any location in the last three months.

**It’s 95.2% in Alberta.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Edmonton’s KDays are held at the Edmonton Expo Centre.

Today’s trivia question: In what year did the dot-com bubble burst?