6 March 2025
Summary:
The digital world in 2025: growth, gaps, and global trends
The digital landscape in 2025 continues to expand, with over 5.5 billion people online and 5.24 billion using social media. The average person spends over six hours daily on the Internet, shaping global communication, business, and daily life. Despite this growth, 2.63 billion people remain offline, with the highest numbers in Africa and South Asia. Internet speeds vary drastically worldwide, with some regions enjoying ultra-fast connections while others struggle with slow networks. Social media remains a dominant force, with Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram leading in global user numbers.
Global Internet and social media usage
Understanding Internet and social media statistics is crucial for anyone working in digital communication, journalism, or content creation. These numbers help us grasp the scale of connectivity worldwide, identify trends, and anticipate future developments. Below, we present key insights from the latest February 2025 report published at www.wearesocial.com.
The number of people connected to the Internet and social media has grown rapidly over the past decade. Understanding this expansion helps us see how digital platforms influence communication, business, and daily life.
There are 8.2 billion people on the globe, of which 5.56 billion use the Internet (67.9% of the population) and 5.24 billion use social media (63.9% of the population). Around 2.63 billion people remain offline.
By comparison, in 2014, the global population was 7.3 billion, with 2.74 billion internet users and 1.92 billion social media users. This highlights the massive digital transformation over the past decade.
Over 2.6 billion people remain offline, highlighting the digital divide.
Median Internet connection speed (megabits per second): mobile Internet (61.52 – download; 11.62 – upload), fixed Internet (95.10 – download; 51.49 – upload).
Devices used to access the Internet: mobile phone (96.3%), laptop or desktop (61.5%).
Monthly cellular data consumed by the average smartphone worldwide: 21.6 GB.
The average daily time spent using the Internet: 6h 38min.
The average daily time spent using social media: 2h 21min.
Who has the youngest population?
A country’s median age can influence how its citizens engage with digital technology. Younger populations tend to adopt new trends faster, shaping the future of Internet use.
The countries with the youngest median age include:
- 🇨🇫 Central African Republic – 14.5 years
- 🇳🇪 Niger – 15.6 years
- 🇸🇴 Somalia – 15.6 years
- 🇲🇱 Mali – 15.7 years
- 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo – 15.8 years
- 🇧🇮 Burundi – 16.4 years
- 🇲🇿 Mozambique – 16.5 years
- 🇦🇴 Angola – 16.6 years
- 🇺🇬 Uganda – 16.9 years
By contrast, some of the oldest populations are found in:
- 🇲🇨 Monaco – 53.6 years
- 🇯🇵 Japan – 49.8 years
- 🇮🇹 Italy – 48.2 years
- 🇭🇰 Hong Kong – 47.4 years
- 🇵🇹 Portugal – 46.9 years
The global median age is 30.9 years.
The world’s youngest populations are shaping the future of digital trends.
Who is still offline?
Despite rapid digital growth, millions of people remain without Internet access. Infrastructure challenges, political restrictions, and economic factors contribute to this digital divide.
The countries with the highest percentage of offline populations include:
- 🇰🇵 North Korea – (not accessible to ordinary citizens)
- 🇧🇮 Burundi – 87.5% offline
- 🇹🇩 Chad – 86.8% offline
- 🇨🇫 Central African Republic – 84.5% offline
- 🇸🇸 South Sudan – 84.3% offline
- 🇾🇪 Yemen – 82.3% offline
- 🇲🇼 Malawi – 82.0% offline
- 🇲🇿 Mozambique – 80.2% offline
- 🇪🇷 Eritrea – 80.0% offline
- 🇲🇬 Madagascar – 79.6% offline
How fast is the Internet?
Internet speed varies significantly around the world. Some countries enjoy ultra-fast connections, while others struggle with slow speeds. Here’s how different regions compare:
Mobile Internet (median download speed in Mbps):
- Fastest: 🇦🇪 UAE (89 Mbps), 🇶🇦 Qatar (358.27 Mbps), 🇰🇼 Kuwait (263.59 Mbps), 🇧🇬 Bulgaria (172.49 Mbps), 🇩🇰 Denmark (162.22 Mbps), 🇰🇷 South Korea (148.34 Mbps), 🇳🇱 Netherlands (146.56 Mbps), 🇳🇴 Norway (145.74 Mbps), 🇨🇳 China (139.58 Mbps), 🇱🇺 Luxembourg (134.14 Mbps)
- Slowest: 🇲🇲 Myanmar (09 Mbps), 🇦🇫 Afghanistan (8.13 Mbps), 🇧🇴 Bolivia (10.75 Mbps), 🇲🇿Mozambique (12.60 Mbps), 🇸🇾 Syria (12.68 Mbps), 🇧🇾 Belarus (13.42 Mbps), 🇻🇪 Venezuela (14.70 Mbps), 🇱🇾 Libya (16.88 Mbps), 🇪🇨 Ecuador (18.73 Mbps), 🇳🇬 Nigeria (18.91 Mbps)
Fixed Internet (Median download speed in Mbps):
- Fastest: 🇸🇬 Singapore (46 Mbps), 🇭🇰 Hong Kong (302.04 Mbps), 🇦🇪 UAE (300.65 Mbps), 🇨🇱 Chile (280.02 Mbps), 🇫🇷 France (267.25 Mbps), 🇺🇸 United States (262.59 Mbps), 🇮🇸 Iceland (241.45 Mbps), 🇩🇰 Denmark (237.95 Mbps), 🇹🇭 Thailand (237.85 Mbps), 🇷🇴 Romania (235.12 Mbps)
- Slowest: 🇨🇺 Cuba (93 Mbps), 🇸🇾 Syria (3.40 Mbps), 🇦🇫 Afghanistan (3.58 Mbps), 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan (3.60 Mbps), 🇪🇹 Ethiopia (9.01 Mbps), 🇨🇲 Cameroon (9.48 Mbps), 🇬🇳 Guinea (9.50 Mbps), 🇾🇪 Yemen (9.68 Mbps), 🇱🇾 Libya (10.93 Mbps), 🇧🇼 Botswana (11.43 Mbps)
With 5.56 billion users, the Internet is now the backbone of communication.
Why do people use the Internet and social media?
Understanding why people go online helps businesses, journalists, and organizations create relevant content and services.
Main reasons for using the Internet:
- Finding information (62.8%)
- Staying in touch with friends and family (60.2%)
- Keeping up to date with news and events (55.0%)
- Watching videos, TV shows, and movies (54.7%)
- Researching how to do things (51.1%)
Main reasons for using social media:
- Keeping in touch with friends and family (50.8%)
- Filling spare time (39.0%)
- Reading news stories (34.5%)
- Finding content, e.g. articles, videos (30.5%)
- Seeing what’s being talked about (29.2%)
- Finding products to purchase (27.3%)
- Finding inspiration for things to do and buy (27.2%)
- Watching or following sports (23.6%)
With 5 billion users, social media is reshaping news, business, and interactions.
The most popular social platforms
Social media platforms continue to shape online interactions. Here are the most widely used platforms worldwide:
Global active users (in billions):
- Facebook: 3.07B
- YouTube: 2.53B
- Instagram: 2.00B
- WhatsApp: 2.00B
- TikTok: 1.59B
Which countries spend the most time online?
Some countries have significantly higher daily Internet usage, often influenced by work culture, digital infrastructure, and entertainment habits.
The highest average daily Internet usage:
- 🇿🇦 South Africa: 9h 37min
- 🇧🇷 Brazil: 9h 09min
- 🇵🇭 Philippines: 8h 52min
- 🇨🇱 Chile: 8h 45min
- 🇨🇴 Colombia: 8h 44min
- 🇦🇷 Argentina: 8h 44min
The lowest average daily Internet usage:
- 🇯🇵 Japan: 4h 09min
- 🇩🇰 Denmark: 5h 10min
- 🇬🇷 Greece: 5h 21min
- 🇰🇷 South Korea: 5h 22min
- 🇫🇷 France: 5h 23min
- 🇧🇪 Belgium: 5h 26min
- 🇦🇹 Austria: 5h 28min
- 🇩🇪 Germany: 5h 28min
Key takeaways
- The digital world is growing fast– More than 5 billion people are now online, with social media usage expanding rapidly.
- The digital divide remains– Over 6 billion people still lack Internet access, particularly in Africa and South Asia.
- Internet speeds are highly unequal– Some regions have ultra-fast networks, while others struggle with extremely slow connections.
- Social media dominates digital life– Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram remain the top platforms, shaping global communication.
Want to learn more? We’ll teach you! – Don Bosco Mobile Journalism – DBMoJo.
Conclusion
The digital world is expanding at an unprecedented pace, but inequalities persist. While billions are connected, millions remain offline, highlighting the need for better infrastructure and accessibility. Internet speed and social media usage continue to shape global communication, making digital literacy more crucial than ever. As technology evolves, staying informed about these trends will be key to navigating the future of the online world.
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