Visualizing Internet Usage Over Time

What We’re Showing

This infographic tracks the growth of global internet users from 1990 to 2025, and shows how the share of the world’s population using the internet has grown.

The data comes from DataReportal’s Digital 2025 Report, with population statistics from the United Nations.

Key Takeaways

• Nearly 5.6 billion people are online in 2025, representing 68% of the global population, with 2.6 billion still offline. 
• Internet usage grew exponentially between 2005 and 2025, with the emergence of smartphones enabling more people to go online.  
• The world’s first website was published in 1991, when just 4.3 million people (0.1% of the global population) were using the internet.
• Low-income countries have the lowest levels of internet adoption, with only 27% of individuals living in these regions using the internet.