6 billionpeople worldwide used the internet in 2025, about three-quarters of the world's population
About 6 billion people, roughly three in four people on Earth, used the internet in 2025, according to the ITU. About 2.2 billion people were still offline.
Official dataChecked at source, 23 Oct 2026All sizesGlobalSocial media and internet · Internet
Source: International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Facts and FiguresITU Facts and Figures 2025. Reference line: ITU's revised 2024 world figure (71%); for 2025 ITU says 'about three-quarters' without a single percentage.digitaltreed.com/statistics
In plain words
What this number really says
About three in four people in the world are online. The 2.2 billion who are not live mostly in poorer countries and rural areas.
6 billion
people used the internet in 2025
2.2 billion
remain offline
94% vs 23%
online in high-income vs low-income countries
Why you can trust it. Official estimate by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency for digital technology, published 17 Nov 2025.
Key terms
Internet user A person who uses the internet, as counted in ITU's country estimates.
Revised estimate ITU updates past years when new country data arrives; 2024 rose from 5.5 to 5.8 billion.
The same 6 billion means something different for each group.
Women
71%online
Against 77% of men, 2025.
Young people 15-24
82%online
Against 72% of the rest of the population.
Where it shows
Where this number has an impact
The next users are mobile and rural
Only 58% of rural people are online against 85% in cities. New users are more likely to be on mobile and on slower networks, so light, fast pages matter.
The future
What this number says about what comes next
Forecasts below are made by others and linked to where they were published. Our own reading of the data is marked as ours.
What to watch next
ITU Facts and Figures 2026 (expected November 2026)
The data
All the numbers in one table
As published by International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Facts and Figures, 2025. Standard errors are shown where the source gives them.
Group
Share online, 2025
High-income countries
94%
Low-income countries
23%
Men
77%
Women
71%
Urban areas
85%
Rural areas
58%
Ages 15-24
82%
Rest of population
72%
Method and use
How it was measured, and how to use it
How it was measured
Publisher
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Facts and Figures
Source type
Official data: Government statistics office or regulator
What it measures
6 billion people worldwide used the internet in 2025, about three-quarters of the world's population
Data period
2025 (ends 31 Dec 2025)
Published by the source
17 Nov 2025
In the source's words
Globally, an estimated 6 billion people – about three-quarters of the world's population – are using the Internet in 2025, up from a revised estimate of 5.8 billion in 2024.
Checked at source
23 Oct 2026: Read on itu.int press release of 17 Nov 2025 (Facts and Figures 2025). Estimates; 2024 figures were revised in this release.
Reuse
Free to cite with attribution. Cite ITU Facts and Figures and year; past years get revised.
Next expected update
Yearly (International Telecommunication Union (ITU), yearly (November))
17 Nov 2025Correction5.8 billion ITU revised its 2024 estimate from 5.5 billion to 5.8 billion (71% of the world).
Cite this number
APA
International Telecommunication Union (ITU). (2025). 6 billion people worldwide used the internet in 2025, about three-quarters of the world's population. Via digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/social-media/people-online-worldwide
MLA
"6 billion people worldwide used the internet in 2025, about three-quarters of the world's population." International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Facts and Figures, 2025. digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/social-media/people-online-worldwide.
HTML link
<a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/social-media/people-online-worldwide">6 billion people worldwide used the internet in 2025, about three-quarters of the world's population</a> (International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2025)
Embed the chart
<iframe src="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/embed/social-media-internet-use-by-group" width="640" height="420" loading="lazy" title="Share of people online worldwide, by group"></iframe>
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