India remains second largest region of internet users in the world

India has the second largest internet user base in the world constituting 12% of the total 3.8 billion global user base, whereas China has the largest internet user base making 21% of the total base, according to the Mary Meeker’s 2019 internet trends report. Previously, India had beaten United States to become the second largest market of internet users. As per the latest report, United

States remains at the third spot constituting 8% of the global internet user base. Moreover, Asia Pacific region leads with 53% of the global internet users coming from the region. However, the internet penetration in the region is 48% which is significantly lower than that of North America and Europe, 89% and 78% respectively.

Overall, the global internet users made 51% of the world’s population in 2018 as compared to 49% in 2017 and 29% in 2009, according to the report. Even as the number of internet users increased globally, the internet user growth has slowed to about 6% in 2018. Furthermore, the report noted 4% decline in the global new smartphone unit shipments last year. “When markets reach mainstream, new growth is harder to find as evinced by declining new smartphone shipments in 2018,” the report stated. The report brought out an interesting trend which showed that the mobile usage beat TV for the first time ever in US. Youtube and Instagram seemed to have gained the most in terms of users selecting these online platforms. Facebook’s usage on the other hand showed a declining curve.n