Guide to Internet World Statistics
by Enrique De Argaez
One of the very first
questions I had, when I started surfing the web, back in 1997, was "How
Many People are Using the Internet in the World?" The correct answer was not easy
to find at that time.
I started to search for a
reply to this very simple question and I started to get many diverse and inconsistent answers.
The numbers were incomplete and the ones available were generally from many years
back, useless to say the least. Some research reports with full information by specialized
firms were available only for purchase at a high price.
Mainly out of personal curiosity, more than anything else, I decided to
start writing down in a notebook all the countries I could find, together
with the number of Internet users. I am an engineer and I love working with numbers.
Slowly, the list started to grow and the help of an Excel database became necessary.
More countries were added and new, updated figures started to come in.
Soon it became evident that the total population for each country and its
variations was required in order to complete the statistical information
and compare how many persons were using the Internet. This number is called the
Internet Penetration Rate and is expressed as a percentage. Again,
the need for accurate updated population statistics in my data base was
obvious. Statistics are very dynamic numbers and change constantly.
Another requirement was the need to use standards as much as possible, and also
to use good, consistent sources for the original raw data. The use of simple
tables and charts, easy to understand, for representing the information was
established from the very first moment.
To make this story short, I decided to publish the World Internet Usage
Information and share it with everyone interested in this subject. The Internet
World Stats web site was born in 2001, reporting the world wide evolution and growth of the
Internet for everyone to see and use the free data.
The following free reports regarding Internet Usage, Penetration and
Population are available for online viewing:
More information on Internet
Statistics and Demographics links can be found at the dmoz
Directory (the open directory
project), and at the Internet Systems
Consortium.
If you have not found the information you are looking for in the
above links, the next possibility is to buy specialized market
reports. There are many professional research companies that offer
a great amount of research reports and at all price levels, depending
on the subject and the depth of the research.
The price you pay for a report is really an investment. You have to balance
all the time you save by purchasing the market research reports against the
cost of the information. It is a barter deal really: time versus money.
Generally its better to save time and purchase the information that
you may require. In the long run, you save money when you buy reports.
Now there are many companies that like to do their own research work.
The DIY (do-it-yourself) approach has its merits and in order to help out,
we have created a second website dedicated to internet market research.
There you will find tips, tools, links, research reports, programs and
articles. This web site is called all about market research dot com
.
Another option for getting Internet usage and markets reports is visiting
our blogs, where you will have access to our new data as well as to our
forecasts on future growth. The site is called
Internet Stats Today dot com.
I hope you have found this guide useful and should you wish to receive more
free updates on Internet Statistics and demographics, I recommend you join
our free weekly newsletter.
About the Author: Enrique De Argaez is the creator and webmaster of the "Internet World Stats" website. Since
2000 he has been collecting Internet Usage Statistics, and
publishing the data for over 233 countries and regions of the
world for free use by the academia, the global business community
and the general public. For more information on Internet World
Usage, visit his website at: https://www.InternetWorldStats.com
Internet World Stats - Web Site
Directory