Internet Usage in India exceeds half a billion people for the first time

The range of Internet customers in India has registered an annual increase of 18% and is expected at 566 million as of December 2018 – 40% universal internet penetration, in keeping with Kantar IMRB’s Icube 2018 document on virtual adoption and usage tendencies in India.

The record additionally projected double-digit increase for 2019 and estimates that the range of internet customers will attain 627 million with the aid of the quit of this yr.

Of the total person base, 87% or 493 million Indians, are described as regular customers, having accessed net in the closing 30 days. 293 million lively net customers reside in urban India, even as there are 200 million active users in rural India. Unsurprisingly, ninety-seven % of customers use the cellular phone as one of the devices to access the Internet.

Rural India’s digital frenzy

While internet customers grew by way of 7% in urban India, accomplishing 315 million users in 2018, digital adoption is now being propelled with the aid of rural India – registering a 35% growth in internet users over the past 12 months. It is now estimated that there are 251 million internet customers in rural India, and this is predicted to reach 290 million through the quiet of 2019.

Increased availability of bandwidth, cheap statistics plans, and extended recognition is driven with the aid of government programmes appear to have rapidly bridged the digital gap between city and rural India. Consequently, the penetration in Rural India has improved from 9% in 2015 to twenty-five% in 2018.

Bihar indicates the highest growth in new Internet user addition

With one of the maximum increase prices inside the national GDP, it’s far no wonder that Bihar registered the highest increase in Internet users across both urban and rural regions; registering a boom of 35% over the last yr. This is carefully accompanied by Orissa.

The Internet is now greater gender-balanced than ever earlier than

The gender virtual divide is now last. Kantar Icube 2018 reports that girls these days include 42% of overall Internet customers. Besides their sheer presence in the digital universe, women also are equally engaged and lively within the digital global – spending as much time at the Internet as guys.

Preeti Reddy, the CEO, Kantar South Asia, stated, “The Internet is transforming the way clients and entrepreneurs have interaction with each other in nowadays’s digital global. Kantar IMRB’s Icube; which has tracked the digital revolution in India for the remaining twenty years, provides key size metrics important for making plans any virtual advertising and marketing or communique initiative. Icube continues to provide government, coverage makers, virtual organizations, entrepreneurs and communication experts the intelligence important to stay on top of the developments throughout different facets of digital systems and services.”

Hemant Mehta, Managing Director, Media and Digital, Kantar IMRB, said, “The brand new version of Kantar IMRB Icube record suggests that today the virtual base in India is growing via over seventy-five million users each yr – like an awful lot because of the complete populace of Germany! It is charming to word that the virtual revolution is now sweeping small cities and villages perhaps pushed with the aid of improved accessibility at affordable data charges. What is also in particular exciting, is the growth in the utilization of virtual in Rural India, wherein more than -thirds of active internet customers are now getting access to the internet every day to meet their leisure and conversation wishes. Marketers have a large opportunity nowadays wherein they can use virtually to attain their consumers – both in urban and rural India.”