Measuring Global Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2023

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Steady but uneven progress in global Internet connectivity highlights the disparities of the digital divide and is leaving people in low-income countries behind. Approximately sixty-seven percent of the world's population, or 5.4 billion people, is now online. This represents a growth of 4.7 percent since 2022, an increase from the 3.5 percent recorded from 2021 to 2022. In low-income countries, 27 percent of the population uses the Internet, up from 24 percent in 2022. Affordability is a significant enabler of connectivity and Internet has become more affordable in all regions and for all income groups. However, in low-income countries, the typical price of an entry-level mobile broadband subscription is equivalent to 9 percent of average income, a share twenty times higher than in high-income countries. Internet traffic estimates reveal that fixed broadband accounts for 83 percent of the world's traffic, despite the rise of mobile broadband subscriptions and their greater affordability, and highlight the importance of investment in both fixed and mobile broadband infrastructures to meet user needs.