Internet Usage: Nigeria Ranks 1st in Africa, 7th in The World

Nigeria’s Internet penetration showed a positive growth following the ranking of the country as the 1st and the 7th in Africa and the world respectively, in the latest ranking of the Top 20 countries with the highest number of Internet users in the world.

A latest report by the internetworldstats.com showed that as at end of June 2016, Nigeria’s Internet users stood at 97,210,000 (Ninety-seven million, two hundred and ten thousand), with a 52 per cent penetration, and 16,000,000 (sixteen million) Facebook users.

Nigeria came behind China, India, United States, Brazil, Japan and Russia to occupy the 7th position in the world ahead of countries like Indonesia, Germany, Mexico, United Kingdom, France and the Philippines. Egypt is the only other African country that made it in the Top 20 though it is ranked 20th in the report.

TOP 20 COUNTRIES WITH HIGHEST NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS - JUNE 30, 2016
#	Country or Region	Population, 2016 Est.	Internet Users 30 June 2016	Internet Penetration	Growth (*) 2000 - 2016	Facebook 30 June 2016
1	China	1,378,561,591	721,434,547	52.3 %	3,106.4 %	1,800,000
2	India	1,266,883,598	462,124,989	36.5 %	9,142.5 %	157,000,000
3	United States	323,995,528	286,942,362	88.6 %	200.9 %	201,000,000
4	Brazil	206,050,242	139,111,185	67.5 %	2,682.2 %	111,000,000
5	Japan	126,464,583	115,111,595	91.0 %	144.5 %	26,000,000
6	Russia	146,358,055	103,147,691	70.5 %	3,227.3 %	12,000,000
7	Nigeria	186,879,760	97,210,000	52.0 %	48,505.0 %	16,000,000
8	Indonesia	258,316,051	88,000,000	34.1 %	4,300.0 %	88,000,000
9	Germany	80,722,792	71,727,551	88.9 %	198.9 %	31,000,000
10	Mexico	123,166,749	69,000,000	56.0 %	2,443.9 %	69,000,000
11	United Kingdom	64,430,428	60,273,385	93.5 %	291.4 %	39,000,000
12	France	66,836,154	55,860,330	83.6 %	557.2 %	33,000,000
13	Philippines	102,624,209	54,000,000	52.6 %	2,600.0 %	54,000,000
14	Bangladesh	162,855,651	53,941,000	33.1 %	53,841.0 %	21,000,000
15	Vietnam	95,261,021	49,063,762	51.5 %	24,431.9 %	40,000,000
16	Iran	82,801,633	47,800,000	57.7 %	19,020.0 %	n/a
17	Turkey	80,274,604	46,196,720	57.5 %	2,209.8 %	46,000,000
18	Korea, South	49,180,776	45,314,248	92.1 %	138.0 %	17,000,000
19	Thailand	68,200,824	41,000,000	60.1 %	1,682.6 %	41,000,000
20	Egypt	90,067,793	33,300,000	37.0 %	7,300.0 %	32,000,000
TOP 20 Countries		4,959,932,042	2,640,559,365	53.2 %	926.7 %	1,035,800,000
Rest of the World		2,380,161,938	970,816,448	40.8 %	835.3 %	626,433,530
Total World Users		7,340,093,980	3,611,375,813	49.2 %	900.4 %	1,662,233,530
NOTES: (1) Top 20 Internet User Statistics were updated for June 30, 2015. (2) Growth percentage represents the increase in the number of Internet users between the years 2000 and 2016. (3) The most recent user information comes from data published by Facebook, International Telecommunications Union, official country telecom reports, and other trustworthy research sources. (4) Data from this site may be cited, giving the due credit and establishing a link back towww.internetworldstats.com. Copyright © 2016, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved worldwide.

Over the years, the proliferation of broadband facilities, the boom in eCommerce, adoption of technologies such as mobile phones and App usage, and affordable data provided by service providers have all combined to increase Internet penetration in Nigeria.

“Inexpensive mobile phones and mobile broadband connections are driving Internet access and usage in countries where fixed internet has been out of reach for consumers, whether that’s due to lack of infrastructure or affordability,” said Monica Peart, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer in a report early last year.