How Many People Are Online in 2026?

Siteefy estimates that 6.2 billion people are online worldwide in 2026.

Internet use rose from 5.8 billion people in 2024 to 6 billion in 2025. We projected the latest total forward using the reported 3.3% annual growth rate. The calculation produces 6.198 billion, which we round to 6.2 billion.

What counts as being online?

A person counts as an internet user if they used the internet from any location and through any device during the previous three months. One person is counted once, even if they use several devices or internet accounts.

The online population grew by more than 240 million people during 2025. Averaged across the year, that is more than 657,000 additional internet users per day.

This is an average, not a live count. Some days and countries added more users than others.

Growth accelerated in 2025

Internet use grew by 3.3% during 2025, faster than the 2.9% growth recorded a year earlier. The increase took the global online share from 71% in 2024 to 74% in 2025.

An estimated 2.2 billion people remained offline in 2025. That is about 26% of the world's population.

Being covered by a network does not guarantee that a person can use it. Cost, device access, skills, language, electricity, and local infrastructure can all stand between coverage and actual use.

The remaining gap is concentrated

Internet use reached 94% in high-income countries, compared with 23% in low-income countries. It reached 85% in urban areas and 58% in rural areas.

For coverage, subscriptions, traffic, and affordability, see Siteefy's broader Internet Statistics overview.