Share of each country's population using the internet, from the International Telecommunication Union. Around two thirds of the world was online by 2023, but the range runs from above 90% across high-income countries to below 30% in several low-income countries.
Internet access is the precondition for almost every digital health service: patient portals, video consultations, remote monitoring, and the cloud platforms behind modern electronic records all assume a population that can get online. This indicator reports the percentage of each country's population that used the internet in a given year, compiled by Our World in Data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
How to read it
Use the year slider to move the map between 1990 and the most recent year, and click any country to add its trend line to the comparison chart below. Add or remove countries with the search box to compare trajectories directly.
What it shows
Global use rose from roughly half the world's population in 2018 to around two thirds by 2023. The headline figure conceals a persistent divide. High-income countries now sit above 90%, and several exceed 95%, while a number of low-income countries remain below 30%. The gap matters for digital health: services designed around assumed connectivity can widen rather than narrow health inequalities when access is uneven.
Caveats
The ITU series combines national survey data with modelled estimates, and definitions of "use" vary (for example, any use in the last three months). Recent years are provisional and revised as countries report. Aggregate lines such as "World" and income groups are population-weighted estimates rather than survey totals.