India tops the list with 651.6 million people offline — almost five times Nigeria’s number, but a smaller percentage (44.7%) of its population.
China has 311.9 million unconnected people, but that’s only 22% of its population.
With 78.7% of its population offline (105.2M people), Ethiopia has the lowest internet penetration among the top countries listed.
Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Pakistan all have over 50% of their populations unconnected.
Despite their smaller populations, over 70% of people in both Tanzania and Uganda remain offline.
While Nigeria is a regional tech hub, it still has over 128 million people offline, pointing to a major disconnect between urban tech growth and rural internet access.
With a median mobile download speed of 441.89 Mbps, the UAE is in a league of its own, setting a high benchmark for digital infrastructure globally.
At just 18.91 Mbps, Nigeria ranks 102nd, only narrowly ahead of countries like Ecuador and Libya. This means the digital experience for most Nigerians is significantly slower than the global average.
The difference between the fastest and slowest countries spans over 400 Mbps, showing a growing divide in how nations can participate in digital economies.
Countries like Denmark, South Korea, Norway, and the Netherlands continue to show strong mobile connection.
It's notable that Qatar and Kuwait, alongside the UAE, are not just energy-rich but also leaders in mobile connectivity.
Several African nations, Nigeria, Libya, and Mozambique, feature among the slowest, highlighting the urgent need for investment in faster, more reliable mobile networks across the continent.
Between 1995 and 2000, internet users jumped from 39.4 million to 394 million, a 900% leap that marked the beginning of the digital era.
Just 14 years after the first website, over 1 billion people were online, showing how quickly the internet became essential.
Between 2010 and 2015, internet usage grew by 54.5%, slower than before but still powerful, especially in developing regions coming online.
With 5.6 billion users in January 2025, most of the world is now online, and future growth will be more about improving access, speed, and quality than just connecting new people.
Each phase had its catalyst. In the 1990s, it was websites and email. The 2000s brought broadband and Google. In the 2010s, it was smartphones. Now, it's AI, 5G, and IoT that are quietly shaping the future of internet use.
Glo is the only Nigerian mobile operator that prioritises tower ownership.
It owns 8,550 towers, far exceeding its competitors combined.
MTN, 9mobile, and Airtel own 286, 86, and 61 towers, respectively.
Most operators lease towers from third-party providers like IHS Towers and American Tower Corporation, while Glo prefers to control its infrastructure.
