Our new Digital 2020 reports – published in partnership with We Are Social and Hootsuite – show that digital, mobile, and social media have become an indispensable part of everyday life for people all over the world. More than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, while social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s population is already online, and the latest trends suggest that more than half of the world’s total population will use social media by the middle of this year. Some important challenges remain, however, and there’s still work to do to ensure that everyone around the world has fair and equal access to life-changing digital connectivity. The number of people around the world using the internet has grown to 4.54 billion, an increase of 7 percent (298 million new users) compared to January 2019. Worldwide, there are 3.80 billion social media users in January 2020, with this number increasing by more than 9 percent (321 million new users) since this time last year. Globally, more than 5.19 billion people now use mobile phones, with user numbers up by 124 million (2.4 percent) over the past year. The average internet user now spends 6 hours and 43 minutes online each day. That’s 3 minutes less than this time last year, but still equates to more than 100 days of connected time per internet user, per year. If we allow roughly 8 hours a day for sleep, that means we currently spend more than 40 percent of our waking lives using the internet. More than 2 billion people have come online since the first mention of 'The Next Billion', but just over 40 percent of the world's total population – roughly 3.2 billion people – remains unconnected to the internet. More than 1 billion of these 'unconnected' people live in Southern Asia (31 percent of the total). Countries in Africa account for 27 percent of the total, with 870 million people yet to come online across the continent as a whole. Age plays a significant role in determining levels of internet access across these regions: more than half of Africa's total population is below the age of 20, and there are more than 460 million people below the age of 13 across Southern Asia. However, gender is also a critical factor, with data from the ITU showing that women are more likely to be 'unconnected' compared to men. The digital gender gap is also apparent in our latest social media data. In particular, women in Southern Asia are three times less likely to use social media today compared to men, offering meaningful insight into broader internet connectivity in the region. Even more worryingly, research from GSMA Intelligence suggests that more than half of all women living in India today are unaware of the existence of mobile internet. The United Nations reports that much of this imbalance stems from 'deeply ingrained social norms and practices.' Regardless of the cause, however, connecting the unconnected will depend heavily on improving digital accessibility for women, especially in developing economies. Mobile now accounts for half of internet use. GlobalWebIndex finds that mobile phones now account for more than half of all the time we spend online, with the company's data putting mobile's share of internet time at 50.1 percent. Apps are where it's at. Data shared with us by App Annie reveal that mobile apps now account for 10 out of every 11 minutes we spend using mobile devices, with web browsing only responsible for 9 percent of our mobile time. We really are social animals. Roughly half of the 3.7 hours that people spend using mobile phones each day is spent using social and communications apps, meaning that these platforms account for the same share of our mobile time as all of our other mobile activities put together. Across mobile devices and computers, GlobalWebIndex reports that we now spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes per person, per day using social media, up by 2 minutes per day since this time last year. Games are a serious business. More than 4 in 5 internet users aged 16 to 64 around the world play video games every month, which would equate to a total global gaming community of more than 3.5 billion people if we applied that figure to the total internet user population. The majority of gamers play games on their smartphones (69 percent of all internet users), but 25 percent of internet users also report playing games on dedicated gaming consoles. Video is still the one to watch. The latest data from Ericsson suggest that the world's mobile internet users will consume more than half a trillion gigabytes of mobile data during 2020, with roughly two-thirds of that total being used to stream and download video content. No stopping shopping. Roughly three-quarters of the world's internet users aged 16 to 64 buy something online each month, with GlobalWebIndex finding that ecommerce adoption rates are highest amongst internet users in Indonesia, Thailand, and Poland. Shopping is a journey, not a destination. Internet behaviors are changing, with influences from around the world shaping the expectations and preferences of people in all corners of the globe. It's no longer enough to watch what's going on in your own backyard (or valley); global marketers who want to stay ahead of the curve need to broaden their horizons, and look to other parts of the world for insight and inspiration.

Digital trends 2020: Every single stat you need to know about the internet

Digital, mobile, and social media have become integral to daily life worldwide, with over 4.5 billion internet users and 3.8 billion social media users. The internet usage has grown by 7% and social media by 9% since January 2019. Mobile phone users have increased by 2.4% to 5.19 billion. The average internet user spends 6 hours and 43 minutes online daily. Challenges include ensuring equal access to digital connectivity, particularly for women in developing economies. Mobile accounts for 50.1% of internet use, and social media usage accounts for half of mobile phone usage time.