How connected is the world?

Who knows how connected the world is? According to a study conducted by the social media management tool Hootsuite, at the start of 2019 there was signifcant disparity when it comes to internet access across the globe.

While in Switzerland over 93% of households have a high-speed fixed internet connection, this is far from the case in the majority of countries around the world. A brief overview of the European and global situation.

In Europe, 86% of households are online. The Scandinavian countries are top of the class with rates close to 95-96%. Unsurprisingly, the US are close competitors of the hyperconnected European countries.

But what about emerging countries? Russia, with a connectivity rate of 76%, comes out with the best rate amongst these countries, ahead of Brazil (70%), South Africa (54%) and India (46%). Thailand, a country where a large number of Swiss Abroad live and that is frequently visited by Swiss tourists, provides 82% of its population with internet access.

The countries with the lowest rates are in Africa, more specifically in central Africa, where only 12% of the population are able to get online.

So, despite controversy around privacy, hacking, fake news and all the other negative aspects of online life, the world continues to embrace the internet and social media. Global digital growth shows no sign of slowing, with a million new people around the world coming online every day.

45% of the world’s population are now social media users: a whopping 3.5 billion people.