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.

In response to a survey on AI usage among internet users in India conducted between August 2024 and February 2025, nearly half of all respondents considered AI-generated information somewhat accurate. Contrariwise, about 18 percent found AI responses to their queries to be inaccurate. Fact-checking and identifying misinformation have grown increasingly necessary with the growing popularity of AI-assisted online searches.

Graph and download economic data for Internet users for India (ITNETUSERP2IND) from 1990 to 2022 about internet, India, and persons.

As reported in a survey on AI usage among internet users in India conducted between August 2024 and February 2025, 66 percent of respondents said they used AI platforms primarily to find information. The next most popular use cases were finding information not available via search engines and summarizing documents.

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.

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.

Between January and August 2024, India accounted for 21 percent of the downloads of the top 50 AI apps worldwide. However, this did not translate to high revenue generation since most users in India used the free version of AI platforms. The Latin American region held the next highest share of downloads, followed by Europe during the same period.

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.

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.

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.

India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corp Limited data was reported at 30.000 Unit in Dec 2018. This stayed constant from the previous number of 30.000 Unit for Sep 2018. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corp Limited data is updated quarterly, averaging 52.000 Unit from Mar 2003 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 62 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10,756.000 Unit in Dec 2005 and a record low of 10.000 Unit in Mar 2003. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corp Limited data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Transportation, Post and Telecom Sector – Table IN.TE041: Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: by Company.

According to a survey of 2021, ** percent of the male population were mobile internet users in India. On the other hand, ** percent of the female Indian population had used mobile internet across the country. According to the source, female Indian population had used mobile internet less actively compared to male population in that year.

In 2022, India had a rank of 87 out of 120 countries for internet usage. Internet usage, according to research, involved measuring the size of the connected population, in terms of Internet and mobile connectivity. In terms of sub-indices, gender gap, both for internet and mobile access ranked lowest that year.

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

Over 34 percent of the Indian population accessed the internet in 2017. This was a drastic increase from 7.5 percent in 2010. Despite the huge, yet-to-be utilized potential, India is already the second-largest online market worldwide.

As of 2021, India recorded a higher nationwide internet usage rate among men than women, at respectively 57.1 percent of male population and 33.3 percent of female population. The gender internet usage gap was also evident in rural India, with only one out of four women aged between 15 and 49 years having ever used the internet before, compared to just under 49 percent of their male counterparts in the region.

In 2016, ** percent of Indian internet users were male while ** percent were female users. This was estimated to change to ** percent male users and ** percent female users by 2020.

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 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.

According to a 2023 survey, ** percent of internet users in urban India preferred using the internet in English. Meanwhile, ** percent of users accessed the internet in Indian languages, with Hindi being the most preferred language among them. Over *** million internet users reside in the urban areas of India.