The United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission on 21 September 2015 released the State of Broadband Report 2015. As per the report, the global broadband growth is slowing down sharply as 4 billion people are still offline.

The report reveals that 57 percent of the world’s people remain offline and unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the Internet can offer.

The State of Broadband 2015 is the fourth edition of the Commission’s broadband connectivity report.

Highlights of the report

  • New figures in the report confirm that 3.2 billion people are now connected, up from 2.9 billion last year and equating to 43 percent of the global population.
  • While access to Internet is approaching saturation levels in the developed world, the Net is only accessible to 35 percent of people in developing countries.
  • The situation in the 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries is particularly critical, with over 90 percent of people without any kind of Internet connectivity.
  • The top ten countries for household Internet penetration are all located in Asia or the Middle East.
  • The Republic of Korea continues to have the world’s highest household broadband penetration with 98.5 percent of homes connected.
  • Qatar with 98 percent penetration is ranked second and Saudi Arabia with 94 percent is ranked third.
  • Iceland has the highest percentage of individuals using the Internet with 98.2 percent penetration.
  • Monaco remains very slightly ahead of Switzerland as the world leader in fixed broadband penetration, at over 46.8 percent of the population compared with the Swiss figure of 46 percent.
  • There are now six economies where fixed broadband penetration exceeds 40 percent, these are Monaco, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Liechtenstein and France.
  • The Asia-Pacific region now accounts for half of all active mobile broadband subscriptions with Macao, China easily taking top place with 322 active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people.
  • In total, there are now 79 countries where over 50 percent of the population is online, up from 77 in 2014.
  • The top ten countries for Internet use are all located in Europe. The lowest levels of Internet access are mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa with Internet available to less than 2 percent of the population in Guinea (1.7%), Somalia (1.6%), Burundi (1.4%), Timor Leste (1.1%) and Eritrea (1.0).

About The State of Broadband Report
Produced annually by the Broadband Commission, The State of Broadband Report is a unique global snapshot of broadband network access and affordability, with country-by country data measuring broadband access against key advocacy targets set by the Commission in 2011.

Released annually in September in New York, it is the only report that features country-by-country rankings based on access and affordability for over 160 economies worldwide.

About United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission

  • The United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission for Digital Development was established in May 2010 by International Telecommunication Union and UNESCO in response to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s call to step up UN efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
  • The Commission aims to boost the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and believes that expanding broadband access is key to accelerate progress.
  • The Commission comprises a high-powered community, top CEO and industry leaders, senior policy-makers, government representatives, international agencies and academia.