ITU Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2025

The State of Global Digital Connectivity in 2025

The International Telecommunication Union’s Facts and Figures 2025 report paints a striking portrait of a world in digital transition. As of 2025, 74% of the global population—roughly 6 billion people—are now online, up from 71% in 2024 and a significant leap from 54% in 2019. Year-on-year growth accelerated to 3.3%, up from 2.9% the previous year, suggesting that momentum in digital adoption is far from spent.

Yet the headline figure masks a persistent and troubling reality: 2.2 billion individuals remain entirely offline. More than a quarter of humanity still lacks access to the transformative potential of the internet—and these individuals are disproportionately concentrated in the world’s poorest nations, rural areas, and among women and girls. The ITU report is not merely a compendium of statistics; it is a diagnostic tool that reveals where the digital revolution is succeeding, where it is stalling, and where urgent intervention is needed.

“The digital divide is no longer just about access to infrastructure—it is about the quality, affordability, and relevance of connectivity that determines whether people can truly participate in the digital economy.” — ITU Facts and Figures 2025

For policymakers, investors, and technology leaders, the data in this report represents both a roadmap and a call to action. Understanding these trends is essential for anyone making decisions about digital infrastructure investments, regulatory frameworks, or market-entry strategies in emerging economies.

Internet Adoption by Region: A World of Contrasts

The regional disparities in internet adoption remain among the most critical findings of the 2025 report. While Europe (92%) and the CIS region (93%) have effectively reached universal connectivity thresholds—defined by the ITU as 95% penetration—other regions trail significantly behind.

The Asia-Pacific region emerges as the standout performer, leaping 27 percentage points in just six years—from 50% to 77%. This growth reflects massive investment in mobile infrastructure across India, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Island nations. Africa, however, remains the region with the greatest connectivity gap, with only 36% of the population online. Despite an 11-percentage-point improvement since 2019, the continent’s growth rate remains insufficient to close the gap with other regions in any foreseeable timeframe.

The Arab States have also shown commendable progress, climbing from 54% to 70%, driven largely by Gulf Cooperation Council countries that have aggressively deployed 4G and 5G networks. For a deeper understanding of how these technology deployment trends are shaping economic outcomes, see the ITU’s full statistical database.

The Income Divide: Wealth Determines Digital Access

Perhaps the most sobering data in the ITU report concerns the relationship between national income and internet access. The divide is stark and, in many respects, widening in absolute terms even as percentages improve.

In low-income countries, only 23% of the population is online—a figure that would have been unremarkable for high-income nations in the early 2000s. The lower-middle-income category tells a more encouraging story, nearly doubling from 33% to 63% since 2019, but even this impressive growth leaves these nations more than 30 percentage points behind their high-income counterparts.

The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) present an even more challenging picture: just 34% internet penetration, with a growth rate of 7.4% annually. While this is the fastest growth rate of any group, starting from such a low base means that closing the gap will take decades at current trajectories. Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) fare only marginally better at 38%, while Small Island Developing States (SIDS) reach 64%.

The Gender Digital Divide: Stagnation Amid Progress

One of the most troubling findings in the 2025 report is the persistent gender gap in internet access. Globally, 77% of men use the internet compared to 71% of women—a gap that translates to approximately 280 million more men than women online. While both male and female internet usage has increased by nearly 45% since 2019, the global gender parity score remains stubbornly fixed at 0.92—the same level recorded six years ago.

This stagnation is particularly concerning because it means that the absolute number of women excluded from the digital economy continues to grow even as percentages improve. The geographic distribution of this gap reveals where the problem is most acute:

• Africa: Gender parity score improved from 0.70 to 0.78, but women’s internet use remains just 31% compared to 40% for men
• Arab States: Gender parity has remained unchanged at 0.86, with women at 64% versus men at 75%
• Asia-Pacific: Gender parity actually declined from 0.92 to 0.91, a concerning reversal
• Europe, Americas, CIS: Gender parity achieved (scores between 0.98 and 1.02)
• SIDS: Gender parity achieved, with both women and men at 64%

In low-income countries, the disparity is most extreme: only 18% of women are online compared to 29% of men. This 11-percentage-point gap has significant implications for economic participation, educational attainment, healthcare access, and political engagement. Research from the World Bank’s Digital Development program consistently demonstrates that closing the gender digital divide could add hundreds of billions of dollars to GDP in developing economies.

Youth as Digital Pioneers: The Generational Advantage

Young people aged 15-24 continue to lead internet adoption globally, with 82% of youth online compared to 72% of the rest of the population. This 10-percentage-point generational gap, while still significant, has been slowly narrowing over the past four years as older demographics increasingly come online.

The youth advantage is most pronounced in lower-income contexts. In low-income countries, youth are 1.9 times more likely to use the internet than the rest of the population (38% vs. 20%). In high-income countries, this ratio shrinks to just 5% (99% vs. 94%), reflecting near-universal adoption across all age groups.

Regionally, youth internet use has reached universality thresholds in Europe (98%), the Americas (97%), and the CIS (96%). Even in the Asia-Pacific, 89% of youth are connected. The outlier remains Africa, where only 50% of youth are online—a figure that underscores the enormous untapped potential of the continent’s young population, which is projected to represent a growing share of the global workforce in coming decades.

For organizations tracking emerging market digital trends, youth connectivity data serves as a leading indicator of future economic dynamism and digital market growth.

The Urban-Rural Divide: Connectivity’s Geographic Fault Line

The gap between urban and rural internet access remains one of the most persistent structural challenges in global digital development. In 2025, 85% of urban residents are online compared to just 58% in rural areas. While the urban-rural ratio has improved slightly—from 1.6 to 1.5 over the past four years—the absolute gap of 27 percentage points represents hundreds of millions of people excluded by geography.

The situation in Africa is particularly stark. Rural internet use stands at just 21%, meaning nearly 4 out of 5 rural Africans remain disconnected. In low-income countries overall, only 1 in 7 rural residents is online (14%), creating a digital underclass that is almost entirely excluded from e-commerce, digital financial services, telemedicine, and online education.

SIDS face an especially challenging dynamic: while urban internet use reaches 84%, rural connectivity drops to just 34%—a 50-percentage-point gap that reflects the difficulty and expense of deploying infrastructure across dispersed island geographies.

Mobile Network Coverage: 5G Surges While Gaps Persist

The mobile network landscape in 2025 is defined by two simultaneous trends: the rapid expansion of 5G and the stubborn persistence of coverage gaps in the world’s most vulnerable regions. 5G now covers 55% of the world’s population, while 4G reaches 93% and 3G-or-higher covers 96%. Yet 312 million people still lack access to any mobile broadband network, with almost half of this unconnected population located in Africa.

The 5G rollout reveals a new dimension of the digital divide. While 84% of the population in high-income countries has 5G coverage, this figure drops to just 4% in low-income countries. Europe leads with 74% 5G coverage, followed by Asia-Pacific at 70% and the Americas at 60%. The CIS region, despite its high internet penetration, lags in 5G deployment at just 8%.

The urban-rural 5G gap is equally striking: 66% of urban areas globally have 5G coverage versus 40% in rural areas. In high-income countries, this translates to 89% urban vs. 59% rural 5G coverage. In low-income countries, rural 5G coverage is effectively non-existent at close to 0%, while even urban coverage reaches only 9%.

Since 2018, when global mobile broadband coverage first surpassed 90%, only 6 additional percentage points of the world’s population have been covered—illustrating the increasing difficulty and cost of reaching the last unconnected communities.

This “last mile” challenge has significant implications for the business case of network expansion. As coverage extends to increasingly remote and sparsely populated areas, the cost per connected individual rises dramatically, creating a structural barrier that market forces alone cannot overcome. The GSMA’s State of Mobile Internet Connectivity report corroborates these findings, noting that affordability and digital literacy—not just coverage—remain critical barriers to adoption.

Subscription Trends: Mobile Broadband Dominates

The global subscription landscape in 2025 reflects the overwhelming dominance of mobile connectivity. With 9.2 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions worldwide—112 per 100 inhabitants—the world now has more mobile subscriptions than people. Active mobile broadband subscriptions have reached 99 per 100 inhabitants, with mobile broadband now accounting for 89% of all mobile subscriptions, up from less than 50% in 2015.

The 5G subscription trajectory is particularly noteworthy: 36% of all mobile broadband subscriptions are now 5G. In high-income countries, this reaches 69 5G subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, while the Americas lead among regions with 53 per 100 and Asia-Pacific follows closely with 46 per 100.

Fixed broadband subscriptions stand at 20 per 100 inhabitants globally, growing at an average of 5.2% annually over the past five years. However, the regional disparities are enormous: Europe leads with 37 per 100, while Africa has just 1 per 100. High-income countries average 39 per 100, compared to less than 1 per 100 in low-income countries.

In contrast, fixed telephone subscriptions continue their steady decline at approximately 3% per year, now standing at just 10 per 100 inhabitants globally. This decline is most dramatic in Africa, where fixed telephony has effectively disappeared, registering at 0 per 100 inhabitants.

For investors and analysts tracking telecommunications market dynamics, the analytical resources available on Libertify can help contextualize these infrastructure trends within broader investment frameworks.

The LDC Challenge: Digital Development at the Margins

The world’s 46 Least Developed Countries represent the most critical frontier in global digital development. With just 34% internet penetration, LDCs are home to a disproportionate share of the world’s offline population. Despite achieving the fastest growth rate at 7.4% annually, the gap between LDCs and the global average continues to widen in absolute terms.

The infrastructure challenge in LDCs is multi-dimensional:

• Mobile broadband subscriptions: Only 53 per 100 inhabitants, roughly half the global average
• Fixed broadband: Just 2 per 100 inhabitants—a fraction of the global 20 per 100
• 5G coverage: Effectively non-existent in most LDCs
• Coverage gaps: 12% of LDC populations lack access to any mobile broadband network
• Rural connectivity: Only 25% of rural LDC residents are online

Landlocked Developing Countries face comparable challenges, with 38% internet penetration and similar infrastructure constraints compounded by the logistical difficulties of deploying networks across borders and mountainous terrain. SIDS, while performing somewhat better in urban areas, face unique challenges related to undersea cable connectivity and the economics of serving small, dispersed island populations.

The ITU’s data makes clear that without targeted policy interventions—including universal service funds, public-private partnerships, and innovative financing mechanisms—these countries risk being left permanently behind in the global digital economy. The UNCTAD’s analysis of LDC digital economies provides additional context on the policy frameworks needed to accelerate progress.

5G Deployment and the Policy Imperative

While 5G is often framed as a technology of universal promise—enabling smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and advanced manufacturing—the ITU data reveals that it is also becoming the next frontier of digital inequality. The 80-percentage-point gap in 5G coverage between high-income (84%) and low-income (4%) countries threatens to create a two-speed digital world where advanced nations leverage next-generation connectivity for economic transformation while the poorest countries remain dependent on aging 3G and 4G networks.

This disparity has implications far beyond consumer internet access. 5G infrastructure is increasingly prerequisite for participation in the AI-driven economy, the Internet of Things (IoT), precision agriculture, and digital health solutions. Countries that fall behind in 5G deployment risk not merely a connectivity gap, but a comprehensive exclusion from the technological paradigms that will define economic competitiveness in the coming decades.

The ITU’s 2025 data crystallizes several strategic imperatives for governments, multilateral institutions, and the private sector. The current trajectory suggests that while global internet penetration will continue to grow, the pace of growth is insufficient to achieve universal connectivity before 2030—the target set by the ITU’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Key policy implications include:

• Infrastructure financing: The cost of connecting the remaining 2.2 billion people—disproportionately located in remote, low-income areas—requires innovative financing beyond traditional commercial models
• Gender-responsive policies: The stagnant gender parity score demands targeted interventions addressing the cultural, economic, and educational barriers that prevent women from accessing the internet
• Rural broadband strategies: With urban-rural ratios exceeding 2.5 in Africa and low-income countries, dedicated rural connectivity programs are essential
• 5G equity frameworks: Without deliberate policy action, the 5G rollout will exacerbate rather than ameliorate existing digital inequalities
• Affordability interventions: Coverage alone is insufficient—meaningful connectivity requires affordable devices and data plans relative to local incomes

For development finance institutions and impact investors, these data points represent not just challenges but opportunities. The digital connectivity gap represents a market of billions of potential users whose integration into the digital economy could generate enormous economic and social returns. According to analysis from the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, every 10% increase in broadband penetration is associated with a 1.38% increase in GDP growth in developing countries.

Looking Ahead: Milestones and Metrics to Watch

As the world approaches the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, several key milestones will determine whether the global community is making adequate progress on digital development:

• Global internet penetration: Can the world move from 74% to the ITU’s 95% universality threshold? Current growth rates suggest this is unlikely before 2035 without accelerated intervention
• Africa’s trajectory: At 36% penetration and a growth rate that, while improving, remains constrained by infrastructure and affordability barriers, Africa represents the defining challenge of global digital development
• Gender parity: Six years of stagnation at 0.92 signals that current approaches are insufficient. New models—potentially leveraging mobile money, agricultural information services, and community-based access programs—are needed
• 5G equity: Whether 5G deployment follows the inclusive model of 4G or creates new layers of inequality will be determined in the next 3-5 years
• Fixed broadband in LDCs: At 2 per 100 inhabitants, fixed broadband remains virtually absent in the world’s poorest countries, limiting their ability to support bandwidth-intensive applications like cloud computing and video conferencing

The ITU’s Facts and Figures 2025 provides an indispensable evidence base for tracking these milestones. As digital connectivity increasingly underpins economic opportunity, educational access, healthcare delivery, and civic participation, the data in this report is not merely descriptive—it is prescriptive, pointing the way toward the policies, investments, and innovations needed to build a truly inclusive digital future.