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Global Census of Online Populations

By combining information from the CIA's World Factbook with research from Nielsen//NetRatings, CyberAtlas has produced a census of the online populations that covers over 90 percent of the world's Internet users.

by Michael Pastore of cyberatlas.internet.com [March 25, 2002]

There are countless sources for the number of Internet users in any given country. CyberAtlas tries to maintain an updated list of the latest statistics on Internet users we've seen for countries around the world. Often, there are widely differing counts. We do our best to check on the accuracy of counts by comparing them to regional growth patterns and other projections.

The population statistics and the number of ISPs in each of the countries listed is taken from the CIA's World Factbook. The number of active users is available for Internet users in the more than 20 nations tracked by the Nielsen//NetRatings service, which account for more than 90 percent of the world's Internet users. The number of active users is an estimate of the number of people that actually go online in a given month, rather than the number of people with access.

If you know of a study that tracks the number of Internet users for a country that is not on this list, send it to the CyberAtlas editor so we can examine the study and possibly add it to the chart.

Global Online Populations
Nation	Population	Internet Users (Source)	Active Users (Nielsen// NetRatings)	ISPs	More Info.
Argentina	37.4 million	2.0 million (D'Alessio IROL)	1.9 million	33	Read more
Australia	19.4 million	5 million (eMarketer)	5.6 million	718	Read more
Austria	8.2 million	2.7 million (Austrian Internet Monitor)	1.3 million	37	Read more
Bahrain	645,361	<40,000 (DIT.net)	NA	1
Belarus	10.4 million	100,000 (Belarus Embassy)	NA	4	Read more
Belgium	10.3 million	2.7 million (InSites)	1.6 million	61	Read more
Brazil	174.5 million	6.1 million (eMarketer)	6.0 million	50	Read more
Bulgaria	7.7 million	585,000 (GFK-Bulgaria) 386,000 (BBSSGallup)	NA	26
Canada	31.6 million	14.2 million (Media Metrix Canada)	8.8 million	760	Read more
Chile	15.3 million	1.8 million (Int'l Telecom. Union)	NA	7
China	1.3 billion	33.7 million (CNNIC)	NA	3
Colombia	40.3 million	700,000 (IDC)	NA	18
Croatia	4.3 million	300,000 (IDC)	NA	9
Cuba	11.2 million	40,000 (Cuban Government) 60,000 (Int'l Telecom. Union)	NA	4
Czech Republic	10.2 million	2.2 million (GfK)	NA	>300
Denmark	5.4 million	1.6 million (NetValue)	1.6 million	13
Djibouti	460,700	<1,000 (Djibouti Dept. of Statistics)	NA	1
Egypt	70 million	455,000 (DIT.net)	NA	50
Estonia	1.4 million	462,000 (TNS Interactive)	NA	28
Finland	5.2 million	2.0 million (eMarketer) 2.15 million (Taloustutkimus)	1.0 million	23
France	60 million	11 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	5.5 million	62	Read more
Germany	83 million	26 million (Forsa)	15.1 million	123
Greece	10.6 million	1.3 million (VPRC)	NA	27
Hong Kong	7.2 million	3.9 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	NA	17
Hungary	10.1 million	730,000 (NetSurvey)	NA	16	Read more
Iceland	278,000	167,000 (Int'l Telecom. Union)	NA	7
India	1 billion	5.0 million (NASSCOM)	NA	43	Read more
Ireland	4.0 million	1.0 million (Amarach)	560,000	22	Read more
Israel	6.0 million	1.2 million (eMarketer)	976,000	21
Italy	57.7 million	11.0 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	8.3 million	93
Japan	126.8 million	22 million (eMarketer)	20 million	73	Read more
Jordan	5.2 million	25,000 to 30,000 (Human Rights Watch)	NA	5	Read more
Kuwait	2 million	63,000 (eMarketer)	NA	3
Lebanon	3.6 million	approx. 420,000 (Arab Advisors)	NA	22
Libya	5.2 million	7,500 (Internet Arab World)	NA	1
Lithuania	3.6 million	320,000 (SIC Gallup Media)	NA	14
Malaysia	22.2 million	2 million (IDC Malaysia)	NA	7
Mexico	101.8 million	2.3 million (eMarketer)	1.7 million	51
Morocco	30.6 million	50,000 (Internet Arab World)	NA	8	Read more
New Zealand	3.8 million	1.3 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	1 million	36
Norway	4.5 million	2.2 million (Norsk Gallup)	1.4 million	13
The Netherlands	16 million	6.8 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	4.5 million	52
Oman	2.6 million	50,000 (DIT.net)	NA	1
Philippines	82.8 million	2.0 million (DigitalFilipino.com)	NA	33
Portugal	10.1 million	3.055 million (ICP/Anacom)	NA	16
Qatar	769,000	47,000 (Internet Arab World)	NA	1
Romania	22.4 million	630,000 (European Survey of the Info. Society)	NA	38
Russia	145 million	7.5 million (Computer Industry Almanac)	NA	35
Saudi Arabia	22.8 million	300,000 (Internet Arab World)	NA	42	Read more
Singapore	4.3 million	1.3 million (Singapore IDA)	956,000	9
Slovakia	5.4 million	approx. 700,000 (TNS Factum)	NA	6
Slovenia	1.9 million	approx. 400,000 (RINE Project)	NA	11
South Africa	43.6 million	1.5 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	611,000	44
South Korea	47.9 million	8,490,375 (Korea NIC)	13.1 million	102	Read more
Spain	40.0 million	7 million (Telefonica)	4 million	56
Sri Lanka	19.4 million	<50,000 (NUA)	NA	5
Sudan	36.0 million	10,000 (Internet Arab World)	NA	1
Sweden	8.9 million	4.5 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	3.0 million	29
Switzerland	7.3 million	3.4 million (Nielsen//NetRatings)	1.8 million	44
Syria	16.7 million	20,000 (Internet Arab World)	NA	1
Taiwan	22.3 million	6.4 million (iamasia)	5.0 million	8
Thailand	61.8 million	4.6 million (Bangkok Poll Center)	NA	15
Tunisia	9.7 million	<120,000 (Internet Arab World)	NA	1
Turkey	66.5 million	3.7 million (IBS)	NA	22	Read more
UAE	2.4 million	920,000 (EIM)	NA	1
Ukraine	48.8 million	750,000 (Committee on Comm. and Info.)	NA	32
United Kingdom	59.6 million	33.0 million (Jupiter MMXI)	13.0 million	245	Read more
United States	278.0 million	149 million (Computer Industry Almanac)	102.0 million	7,800	Read more
Vietnam	80.0 million	22,000 (CommerceNet)	NA	5
Venezuela	24 million	1.2 million (Cavecom-e)	NA	16
Yemen	18.0 million	12,600 (Internet Arab World)	NA	1

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