The internet penetration rate in India rose over 55 percent in 2025, from about 14 percent in 2014. Although these figures seem relatively low, it meant that more than half of the population of 1.4 billion people had internet access that year. This also ranked the country second in the world in terms of active internet users. Internet availability and accessibility By 2021, the number of internet connections across the country tripled with urban areas accounting for a higher density of connections than rural regions. Despite incredibly low internet prices, internet usage in India has yet to reach its full potential. Lack of awareness and a tangible gender gap lie at the heart of the matter, with affordable mobile handsets and mobile internet connections presenting only a partial solution. Reliance Jio was the popular choice among Indian internet subscribers, offering them wider coverage at cheap rates. Digital living Home to one of the largest bases of netizens in the world, India is abuzz with internet activities being carried out every moment of every day. From information and research to shopping and entertainment to living in smart homes, Indians have welcomed digital living with open arms. Among these, social media usage was one of the most common reasons for accessing the internet.

As indicated by a survey on AI usage in India, ChatGPT was the most popular AI platform used to search for information as of February 2025. Perplexity was the next most popular among Indian internet users, evident in nine percent of the responses. However, a significant share of internet users in India remained wary of AI platforms and chose to look up information using Google and other search engines.

In 2023, India had over 1.2 billion internet users across the country. This figure was projected to grow to over 1.6 billion users by 2050, indicating a big market potential in internet services for the South Asian country. In fact, India was ranked as the second largest online market worldwide in 2022, second only to China. The number of internet users was estimated to increase in both urban as well as rural regions, indicating a dynamic growth in access to internet.

Mobile connectivity

Of the total internet users in the country, a majority of the people access the internet via their mobile phones. There were nearly the same amount of smartphone users as internet users across the country. Cheap availability of mobile data, a growing smartphone user base in the country along with the utility value of smartphones compared to desktops and tablets are some of the factors contributing to the mobile heavy internet access in India.

Growth is on the cards

Despite the large number of internet users in the country, the internet penetration levels took longer to catch up equally. At the same time, the number of women who have access to internet is much lower than men in the country, and the bias is even more evident in rural India. Similarly, internet usage is lower among older adults in the country due to internet literacy and technological know-how. By encouraging internet accessibility among marginalized groups including women, older people and rural inhabitants in the country, India’s digital footprint has significant headroom to grow.

India’s digital adoption has been driven by the rural heartland of the country, registering a high growth of internet users compared to their urban counterparts. In 2024, there were *** million internet users in rural India, accounting for more than half the country's netizens. Bridging the internet gap This jump in rural internet penetration was largely owing to the increased availability of bandwidth, cheap data plans, and various government initiatives under the Digital India campaign. As of 2022, over *** thousand village and small-town councils, called Gram Panchayats, were equipped with internet access across India. Of these, Uttar Pradesh had the maximum connectivity in its rural areas with ** thousand internet-equipped gram panchayats. These factors also led to an overall spike in the internet penetration rates across the country. From just over a ** percent internet penetration rate in 2015, India reached almost ** percent in 2022. A perspective on the numbers Although these figures seem relatively low, it indicated that about *** million would be internet users by January 2023. This ranked India second in terms of active internet users across the world that same year.

While men constituted more than **** of the active internet users in India, female users accounted for ** percent in 2024. Over the years, the gender gap among Indian internet users appears to have been closing. The overall number of internet users in the country was forecasted to reach *** million, with most of them residing in rural India.

Forecast: Total Internet Users in India 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Individuals using the Internet (% of population) in India was reported at 55.9 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Individuals using the Internet (% of population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

According to the 2024 Digital Quality of Life index covering 121 countries, India's rank dropped to 60, scoring an average of 0.47 points across five digital aspects. While the country moved up the ranks on the internet affordability and electronic security pillars that year, it saw a decline across the other three aspects that had been its strength in 2023.

As of December 2023, the internet service provider with the largest number of subscribers across India was Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, accounting for over 470 million. This number translated to market share of over 50 percent.

The number of internet users in India was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total ***** million users (+***** percent). After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the number of users is estimated to reach *** billion users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of internet users of was continuously increasing over the past years.Depicted is the estimated number of individuals in the country or region at hand, that use the internet. As the datasource clarifies, connection quality and usage frequency are distinct aspects, not taken into account here.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to *** countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of internet users in countries like Nepal and Pakistan.

As of 2023, India had **** billion internet users, more than any other country in the world. China ranked second, with **** billion Indians accessing the internet via any device. The United States followed with approximately *** million online users.

As of the third quarter of 2024, finding information was the leading reason to use the internet in India, as reported by over ** percent of its internet users. Staying in touch with friends and family was the next leading reason. Indian internet users devoted nearly ***** hours a day to using the internet during the surveyed period. Expanding digital landscape India's internet user base has grown significantly and is expected to reach over *** billion by 2050. This expansion is driven by increased mobile connectivity, with smartphone users nearly matching the total number of internet users. Affordable mobile data and the utility of smartphones have contributed to India's mobile-centric internet access. However, internet penetration varies widely across regions, with Delhi leading at ** percent and Odisha lagging behind. Challenges ahead Despite the large user base, India faces challenges in ensuring equitable internet access. Gender disparities persist, particularly in rural areas, and older adults have lower usage rates due to literacy and technological barriers. India's internet freedom score of ** out of 100 in 2024 indicates a “partly free” status, reflecting government-imposed restrictions and censorship. However, the average monthly data consumption reached **** gigabytes per user in 2023, driven by online education, remote work, and increased streaming content consumption.

Fixed broadband subscriptions in India was reported at 39480000 in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. India - Fixed broadband Internet subscribers - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

India: Broadband internet subscribers, in thousands: The latest value from 2023 is 39300 thousand subscribers, an increase from 33500 thousand subscribers in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 10539 thousand subscribers, based on data from 137 countries. Historically, the average for India from 2001 to 2023 is 13249 thousand subscribers. The minimum value, 50 thousand subscribers, was reached in 2001 while the maximum of 39300 thousand subscribers was recorded in 2023.

As of December 2023, the leading service area with the largest number narrowband internet subscribers in urban India was the capital territory of Delhi, with over **** million users. The total number of narrowband internet subscribers in urban India during the measured time period was over ** million.

While Indians between 12 and 34 years dominated internet use from 2013 to 2019 with about 65 percent of the total market, this was projected to change by 2025. Between 2019 and 2025, it was estimated that age group 35 years and older would make up ** percent of internet usage in India. Gender and internet Among the total internet users in the country, it was found that only about ** percent were female users. While this was expected to change to ** percent male users and ** percent female users by 2020, it still showed a gender gap in internet accessibility in the south-Asian country. While several factors lead to this digital gender gap, economic and socio-cultural barriers stand out as the most compelling reasons. Older Indians part of digitalization The median age of India’s population was around 27 years in 2015, echoing the range of the country’s majority internet user base. The estimated shift, however, in the years to come would be the successful efforts towards digitalizing India. If done right, this would propel older adults to adopt and master new media technologies in their daily activities beyond social media and communication, including the use of financial services.

The results might surprise you when looking at internet users that are active on social media in each country.

As of February 2025, English was the most popular language for web content, with over 49.4 percent of websites using it. Spanish ranked second, with six percent of web content, while the content in the German language followed, with 5.6 percent. English as the leading online language United States and India, the countries with the most internet users after China, are also the world's biggest English-speaking markets. The internet user base in both countries combined, as of January 2023, was over a billion individuals. This has led to most of the online information being created in English. Consequently, even those who are not native speakers may use it for convenience. Global internet usage by regions As of October 2024, the number of internet users worldwide was 5.52 billion. In the same period, Northern Europe and North America were leading in terms of internet penetration rates worldwide, with around 97 percent of its populations accessing the internet.

As of December 2023, the number of rural internet subscribers was over *** million in India much lower than urban counterpart. The total number of internet subscribers across the south Asian country was over *** million during the same time period.

As of 2023, the number of households in India that owned connected TV sets amounted to 32 million. An increase from the previous year, the trend was projected to continue until 2025. Connected TV or CTV refers to a television or device directly connected to the internet and can stream content, such as smart TVs, streaming media player devices, gaming consoles, and internet-enabled set-top-boxes. What is Connected TV? A connected TV refers to any television set that can connect to the internet, enabling users to stream content from various online platforms and services. There are two main types of connected TVs: smart TVs and TVs with external streaming devices. Smart TVs come with built-in internet connectivity and pre-installed apps, allowing users to access streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube directly, without the need for any additional devices. In contrast, TVs with external streaming devices are standard televisions that connect to the internet through external devices like Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, or Apple TV, which provide access to streaming services and applications. Shifting television landscape The number of households with internet access has increased significantly over the years and is expected to continue rising. Correspondingly, the number of households with connected TVs in India has also increased. This increase in connected TV households coincides with a decline in traditional pay TV subscriptions. In 2023, cable television subscriptions dropped to 62 million, and direct-to-home services also saw a slight decrease. This shift can be attributed to viewers transitioning to free TV options, digital streaming platforms, and connected TVs. Additionally, smart TVs were the most commonly used devices for consuming television content in India as of 2023.