The number of Internet users worldwide will surpass 3 billion in 2015, according to figures from eMarketer, increasing 6.2 per cent next year to reach 42.4 per cent of the entire world’s population.

This year, Internet user penetration will top the 40 per cent mark for the first time as the web reaches 2.89 billion users across the world. By 2018, eMarketer estimates, nearly half the world’s population, or 3.6 billion people, will access the Internet at least once each month.

“Inexpensive mobile phones and mobile broadband connections are driving internet access and usage in countries where fixed internet has been out of reach for consumers, whether that’s due to lack of infrastructure or affordability,” said Monica Peart, senior forecasting analyst, eMarketer. “While highly developed nations are nearly saturated in terms of internet users, there’s significant room for growth in emerging markets; for example, India and Indonesia will each see double-digit growth in each year between now and 2018.”

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