According to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and KANTAR, 45 per cent of the population in India, i.e., about 665 million citizens, do not access the internet as of 2023.
However, the report noted that in 2021, 762 million Indians were not using internet which narrowed to 714 million in 2022.
As per the report, reasons for not accessing the internet vary, with 23 per cent stating that they find the internet too difficult to use, while 22 per cent stated that they are not aware of the benefits of the internet. Strikingly, 17 per cent said that they cannot afford internet, or it is too expensive.
On a pan-India level, however, the report highlighted that internet penetration has surpassed a new milestone of 800 million as total active internet users reached 820 million in 2023 indicating that more than 55 per cent of Indians have used the internet last year. Internet penetration grew across the nation at a modest 8 per cent year-over- year (YoY), meanwhile rural India, with 442 million users, accounted for about over 53 per cent of the total user base.
Further, the report added that states with the lowest internet user base are also showing signs of the highest growth rates. States such as Jharkhand (46 per cent penetration) and Bihar (37 per cent penetration) are showing above-average growth rates of 12 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.
The report has further highlighted that over-the-top (OTT) content consumption (707 million users), followed by communication (621 million users), and social media (575 million users), respectively, are the top three activities on the internet.
