How world wide is the web?

We all (should) know that the www at the beginning of a site address stands for world wide web, but is it really worldwide? There are definitely sites from all over the world but is the whole world using it?

In 2011, the most internet usage was in Asia accounting for nearly half (44.8%) of all users. This isn’t surprising given the population numbers. Europe is second, with 22.1% and North America follows with 12%. The remaining regions, Latin America/Caribbean, Africa, Middle East and Australia/Oceana account for 10% or less each.

The gross numbers don’t give the full picture, though. If you look at the percentage of the population using the internet, North America is at the top with 78.6% of people using the net. Other industrialized regions are not far behind. Australia/Oceana comes in at 67.5% and Europe at 61.3%. All those users in Asia are only 26.2% of the population.

Africa only accounts for 6.2% of all users and 13.5% of the population is online. That is changing rapidly. Since 2000, the number of internet users has increased 2,998.4%. The Middle East, with only 3.4% has seen a 2,244.8% increase. In contrast, North America’s users have increased 152.6%.

The world wide web does live up to its name and, if trends continue, will become even more worldwide in the future.  Web Rocket Solutions can give SEO advice to help you access users who are in your part of the world.

Source – Internet World Stats, www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm