Citizens using mobile internet smartphones while walking through a vibrant local market in India. — Indian citizens navigate a bustling local market while accessing digital services on mobile devices, illustrating expanding internet connectivity in developing nations.

Global Internet Access Expands to 6.3 Billion in 2026, Yet Digital Divides Persist in Artificial Intelligence Era

According to the International Telecommunication Union’s Facts and Figures 2026 report, global Internet users reached 6.3 billion people, representing 76 percent of the world’s population. Despite this growth, an estimated 2 billion people remain offline, highlighting persistent disparities in broadband affordability, network infrastructure, and digital skills across lower-income nations. As artificial intelligence transforms global economies, closing these digital divides is critical to ensure equitable access to technology and socio-economic opportunities.

RMN Digital Research Desk
New Delhi | November 4, 2026

GENEVA — Global connectivity has reached a new milestone as an estimated 6.3 billion people, or 76 percent of the global population, are using the Internet in 2026. According to the annual Facts and Figures 2026 report published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the specialized agency of the United Nations for digital technologies, online participation grew from a revised estimate of 6.1 billion people (74 percent) in 2025.

However, despite steady expansion toward universal connectivity, the report highlights that 2 billion people remain entirely offline, exposing severe inequalities in technology access, infrastructure quality, and affordability between high-income and low-income regions.

The Growing Stakes of Digital Inclusion in the AI Era

As artificial intelligence and automated systems increasingly drive global education, governance, and commerce, being disconnected presents unprecedented economic risks.

“In the age of AI, being offline means being shut out of countless opportunities, from education to employment,” stated Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General. “Now more than ever, we need to expand connectivity and make it meaningful for everyone, everywhere.”

Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, underscored that physical network expansion alone is insufficient. He emphasized that building digital skills is mandatory to turn basic access into meaningful socio-economic advancement.

Also Read and Subscribe to:

[ Technophile | Tech Insights LinkedIn Newsletter ]

[ Movie Mate | Global Entertainment Intelligence LinkedIn Newsletter ]

“Facts and Figures 2026 shows us the significant progress achieved so far and the work that lies ahead of us to translate access to digital technologies into meaningful connections that can improve people’s lives,” Zavazava explained. “Without digital skills and meaningful connectivity, the benefits of technologies risk remaining out of reach for many, reinforcing existing digital divides.”

Key Disparities in Global Internet Adoption

The ITU report tracks global, regional, and income-level indicators across demographic and technical metrics:

Income Disparities: Internet usage stands at 93 percent in high-income countries, compared with just 32 percent in low-income nations.
Gender Gap: Globally, 79 percent of men and 74 percent of women use the Internet. The global ratio of women to men using the Internet improved slightly to 0.94.
Age Gap: Youth aged 15 to 24 remain the most connected demographic, with 86 percent online worldwide, compared with 74 percent across the remainder of the population.
Urban vs. Rural Coverage: Globally, 82 percent of urban residents access the Internet, whereas rural adoption sits at 63 percent.
Mobile Phone Ownership: Approximately 84 percent of the global population aged 10 and over own a mobile phone. Ownership exceeds 95 percent in high-income economies but drops to 57 percent in low-income economies.

Infrastructure and Broadband Affordability Bottlenecks

While basic mobile network coverage is widespread — with 97 percent of the world’s population living within reach of at least a 3G network — advanced high-speed infrastructure remains highly unequal.

Global 5G coverage reaches 59 percent of the global population overall, but spans from 86 percent in high-income countries down to just 4 percent in low-income countries. This infrastructure bottleneck directly impacts data usage volume: average monthly mobile broadband traffic per subscription reaches 20 GB in high-income countries, roughly six times the 3.4 GB recorded in low-income countries.

On affordability, progress has been made worldwide. The global median price of a data-only mobile broadband basket decreased to 1.2 percent of gross national income (GNI) per capita, while fixed broadband fell to 2.3 percent. Notably, both Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) met the international affordability target of 2 percent of GNI per capita for mobile broadband for the first time in 2026.

Conversely, in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the median price of mobile broadband remains elevated at 6.1 percent of GNI per capita, and three out of ten economies globally fail to meet affordability targets for either fixed or mobile broadband services.

Addressing these persistent bottlenecks in cost, infrastructure, and digital skill delivery remains fundamental to ensuring that emerging advancements in artificial intelligence benefit humanity equitably.