The increasing number of Internet users every year indicates growing awareness among the people across the world. According to Internet World Stats June-09 statistics, World population reached 6.76 billions, increasing 1.4% YOY. At the same time, worldwide Internet usage penetration reached 24.7%, which means almost a quarter of the world population is accessing Internet. As the western world is saturating, the emerging world is fast catching up with the usage numbers.

One Out of Four Persons Accessing Internet
According to the Internet World Stats, worldwide Internet users reached 1.66 billions penetrating 24.7% with a growth rate of 2.8%. The number of online users at midyear 2008 was 1,463,632,361 with penetration rate of 21.9%. Now almost one out of every four persons is accessing the Internet. Earlier it was one out of five.

North America Dominates the Penetration Rate
North America is dominating with higher penetration rate of Internet users with 215 million Internet users with 73.9% penetration rate, United States and Canada being the major contributors. When it comes to total users, Asian region has the highest number of Internet users. More than 42% of world’s Internet users are coming from Asian countries with 18.5% penetration rate. On the other hand, Australia and Europe are holding second and third positions After North America with 60.1% and 50.1% respectively.

Top 20 Countries Hold More Than 75%
Top 20 countries with highest number of users are holding 76.8% of total usage. China is in top position with 298 million users and United States holding second position with 227 million users. However, when we compare penetration rates of these two countries, United States is way ahead of China. United States has more than 74%, where as China has only 22% penetration rate. Japan, India, Brazil, Germany, UK, France, Russia and South Korea are holding next positions respectively in total usage.

Overall, there is a significant improvement in worldwide Internet users compared to last year. Penetration rates improved rapidly in the emerging countries, which propelled the major growth. Even though one out of four persons is accessing Internet, still there is huge scope for improvement across the globe.