--- description: 40% of the world is now online title: Internet Users Surge to Almost 3 Billion Worldwide image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2b24b73694f1be/698764318e060111d045810d/man-computer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Internet Users Surge to Almost 3 Billion Worldwide by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2014 3:59 PM CUT  Man using computer mouse, close-up of hand Man using computer mouse, close-up of handGetty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 25, 2014 3:59 PM CUT The number of Internet users in the world is approaching 3 billion, according to a United Nations agency. The International Telecommunications Union revealed in its [annual report](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/mis2014%5Fwithout%5Fannex%5F4.pdf "undefined") that the number of Internet users grew 6.6% in 2014, from 2.7 billion to almost 3 billion. Five years ago, just 2 billion people were online. Today, 40% of the world is plugged in. The quickest growth has occurred in developing countries, where the number of Internet users has doubled in the last five years. But there are still more than 4 billion people on Earth without Internet access. Africa is the region with the lowest penetration rate, with only 19% of people on the continent currently using the Internet. ITU has committed to bringing 1.5 billion more people online by the end of the decade through an initiative called Code 2020, which is focused on expanding access to mobile broadband around the world. A bevy of big tech companies, including Google and Facebook, have also launched projects to deliver Internet access to remote areas. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3604911/3-billion-internet-users/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3604911/3-billion-internet-users/"},"headline":"Internet Users Surge to Almost 3 Billion Worldwide","datePublished":"2014-11-25T15:59:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:03:46.940Z","description":"40% of the world is now online","url":"https://time.com/3604911/3-billion-internet-users/","keywords":["Tech","Internet","Internet Access","Web"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2b24b73694f1be/698764318e060111d045810d/man-computer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2b24b73694f1be/698764318e060111d045810d/man-computer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Man using computer","caption":"Man using computer","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3604911/3-billion-internet-users/","name":"Internet Users Surge to Almost 3 Billion Worldwide"}}]}] ```