New York _ Agencies
More than half of the world´s population, some 1.9 billion people worldwide, are using the Internet, the United Nations said Friday in a statement.
According to the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU), about 51,000 percent of the world´s population will be internet users by the end of this year.
Union president Holin Jo said in a statement that by the end of 2018, the threshold would exceed 50% of the world´s Internet users
He noted that this was an important step towards a more inclusive global information society, but he pointed out that many people around the world were still waiting to enjoy the benefits of the digital economy.
He also called for more support for technology and innovation in the area of trade, so that no one would remain untouched by the digital revolution.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the world´s richest countries have recorded steady growth in internet usage ratios, which have risen from 51, 3% of the population in these countries in 2005 to a current rate of 80, 9%.
However, the increase was greater in developing countries, with the proportion of Internet users among the population rising from 7, 7% 13 years ago to the current rate of 45, 3%.
Africa has the largest growth rate, with more than 10 times the proportion of Internet users over the period, from 1.2 to 24, according to the ITU report.
The report also indicated that the number of fixed-phone subscribers continued to decline, currently accounting for only 12, 4% of the world´s population, and the number of mobile phone subscriptions currently exceeds that of the world population.
The report also noted a rocket spike in the proportion of mobile Internet subscribers, which increased from 4 subscriptions per 100,000 inhabitants in 2007 to 69, 3 currently.
The number of subscriptions to Internet services via mobile devices currently stands at 3.5 billion worldwide, according to the report.
