Internet Ends 2007 With 1,319 Million Users

Internet use in the world has grown 265.6% between 2000 and 2007 according to Internet World Stats.

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Bogota, DC - February 18, 2008 - Internet ends 2007 with 1,319 Million users

Internet World Stats in its latest update has revealed Internet growth figures for the world wide web between 2000 and 2007. From the study, different Internet growth trends become evident for each of the seven world geographic regions.

Asia has by far the largest number of Internet users, 510 million persons. This result was expected because Asia is the geographical region with the largest population, 3,734 million persons. Future growth can be expected in Asia because the two largest countries in population, China and India, are located in the region and Internet penetration today continuous to be low in Asia, at only 13.7%.

North America (Canada and U.S.A.) has the highest Internet penetration rate, with 71.1% of the population using the Internet. North America also shows the lowest Internet growth rate in the period, 120.2%. This is an absolutely normal behavior for the region due to the fact that the great majority of the population there were early adopters of the Internet and already use it. A similar situation can be found in Oceania, where Australia and New Zealand exhibit very high Internet penetration rates.

Europe is the second largest Internet region in the world with 348 million Internet users. It also exhibits a fairly large Internet penetration rate of 43.4%. Between 2000 and 2007 all the European countries presented a healthy Internet growth rate, leading to a marked decrease in the digital divide in this region.

The Middle East is the world region with the highest growth in the number of Internet users, 920.2% between 2000 and 2007. This result can be explained by the fact that the Middle East region was a late adopter in the use of the Internet. This geographical region today has to run to catch up in technology with the rest of the world.

Today the average Internet penetration rate for the world is 20.0%. The geographical regions above this world average are: North America, Oceania, Europe, and Latin America. The four world regions below the average Internet penetration rate are: Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

Enrique De Argaez, the editor of the Internet World Stats website, has indicated that Internet users in the world have grown from 361 million in the year 2000 to 1,319 million people at year end 2007. This represents a very impressive growth of 265.6% in only seven years.

Additional information for understanding the use and growth of the Internet can be found at the Internet World Stats website: www.internetworldstats.com


Website: http://www.internetworldstats.com