Over 150 Million Internet Users Worldwide at Year-end 1998
April 30, 1999 - According to the Computer Industry Almanac Inc. there were over 150 million Internet users at year-end 1998--up from 61 million Internet users at year-end 1996. The U.S. had over 76 million Internet users or nearly 51% of the total at year-end 1998. The top 15 countries shown in the following table account for nearly 87% of the worldwide Internet users at year-end 1998. These numbers include adult Internet users with weekly usage in businesses and homes. An Internet User is defined as being over 16 years of age and uses the Internet on a regular basis and at least once a month.
Top 15 Countries in Internet Use at Year-End 1998
| Rank | Country | Weekly Internet Users (Millions) | All Internet Users (Millions) |
| 1 | U.S. | 76.5 | 88.0 - 92.0 |
| 2 | Japan | 9.75 | 13.0 - 14.0 |
| 3 | U.K. | 8.10 | 9.2 - 10.5 |
| 4 | Germany | 7.14 | 9.0 - 12.0 |
| 5 | Canada | 6.49 | 7.5 - 8.5 |
| 6 | Australia | 4.36 | 5.0 - 6.0 |
| 7 | France | 2.79 | 3.5 - 4.3 |
| 8 | Sweden | 2.58 | 3.0 - 3.5 |
| 9 | Italy | 2.14 | 2.5 - 3.0 |
| 10 | Taiwan | 2.12 | 3.0 - 3.5 |
| 11 | South Korea | 2.04 | 3.0 - 3.5 |
| 12 | Spain | 1.98 | 2.4 - 2.9 |
| 13 | Netherlands | 1.96 | 3.0 - 3.5 |
| 14 | China | 1.58 | 2.0 - 3.0 |
| 15 | Finland | 1.57 | 1.8 - 2.1 |
| -- | Top 15 Countries | 131.1 | 160 - 195 |
| -- | West Europe | 34.7 | 45 - 57 |
| -- | Worldwide | 150.9 | 180 - 230 |
These are results from a report by Computer Industry Almanac Inc. that estimates the number of Internet users in 50 countries from 1990 to 1998 with projections for 2000 and 2005. Note that these numbers are 15% to 100% higher when occasional Internet users are included.
"There will be about 320 million Internet users worldwide at year-end 2000 and over 720 million users by year-end 2005," Egil Juliussen predicts. "The U.S. will grow to over 207 million Internet users in 2005, or 29 percent of Internet users worldwide. The projected drop in the U.S.' percentage of total Internet users is a fairly standard progression as the U.S. market becomes saturated."
"Economics is a major factor in countries with high Internet usage. Some of the early adopters of Internet access, after the U.S., were small, medium and large companies in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Also wealthier countries, such as the U.S., are more likely to have higher Internet access than countries that lack the financial resources to set up computers and the communication systems needed for Internet usage," says Karen Petska, Editor-in-Chief of Computer Industry Almanac.
Petska says, "The growth in Internet use over the last few years was not surprising. The thing that is most surprising is that some isolated countries have the highest number of Internet users on a per capita basis than other countries--even the U.S.! That's partly because they use the Internet for conducting a lot of their import and export business which accounts for a large portion of their gross national product. For those countries the Internet replaces the use of mail, telephone and fax which was either too slow, expensive or both. The Internet makes sense for Australia and New Zealand for the same reason. The Internet is an invaluable tool long needed by these countries to play catch-up with those that are already geographically convenient to each other. As a result the U.S. market will be maturing as the other countries are still in the growth phase of this market.
Computer Industry Almanac Inc. publishes the Internet Industry Almanac and Computer Industry Almanac, which have statistics, projections, salaries, trends, companies, employment, products, publications and more of the Internet and computer industries. For more information see Market Research Reports.
