USA
tops 160M Internet Users
December 16 , 2002—The number of Internet users will surpass 665 million in 2002 up from 544M at year-end 2001. The Internet user growth rate is slowing in the developed countries as much of the industrialized world is approaching the top of the S-curve. The growth of Internet users will continue in the developing countries for another decade. The worldwide number of Internet users will top 1B in 2005, but yearly growth rates will remain below 20% from now on. The U.S. has a large lead with over 160M Internet users—nearly 2.5X the number in Japan. Internet usage is growing rapidly in China, which is expected to surpass Japan in late 2003.
Top
15 Countries In Internet Usage |
||
Internet
Users (#K) |
Share
% |
|
| 1. U.S. | 160,700 |
24.13 |
| 2. Japan | 64,800 |
9.73 |
| 3. China | 54,500 |
6.71 |
| 4. Germany | 30,350 |
8.18 |
| 5. UK | 27,150 |
4.08 |
| 6. South Korea | 26,900 |
4.04 |
| 7. Italy | 20,850 |
3.13 |
| 8. Canada | 17,830 |
2.68 |
| 9. France | 16,650 |
2.50 |
| 10. India | 16,580 |
2.49 |
| 11. Brazil | 15,840 |
2.38 |
| 12. Russia | 13,500 |
2.03 |
| 13. Australia | 10,450 |
1.57 |
| 14. Spain | 10,390 |
1.56 |
| 15. Taiwan | 9,510 |
1.43 |
| Top 15 Total | 496,000 |
74.48 |
| Worldwide Total | 665,910 |
100 |
“Despite such a huge lead in total Internet users the USA has fallen behind the Scandinavian countries in Internet users per capita ”, says Dr. Egil Juliussen, the author of the report. The USA is ranked #7 in per capita Internet usage for 2002. Unless wireless Internet usage or entertainment Internet device usage picks up, the USA will remain behind in country rankings of per capita Internet usage. The strong growth of wireless web usage has also put South Korea ahead of the USA in Internet use per capita.
More information is available in “Internet Users By Country”, a market research report by Computer Industry Almanac. The report estimates and forecasts the number of Internet users for 53 countries and the six main regions of the world for 1994 through 2007.
Computer Industry Almanac publishes market research reports for the PC, PDA, information appliances and Internet industries. For more information see Market Research Reports.
