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.

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.

High Frequency Indicator: The dataset contains year-, quarter- and state-wise compiled data from the year 2014 to till date on the total number of broadband and narrowband internet subscribers in the rural and urban areas of India

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.

The number of households with internet access in India was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 109.9 million households (+69.15 percent). After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the number of households is estimated to reach 268.86 million households and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of households with internet access of was continuously increasing over the past years.Depicted is the number of housholds with internet access in the country or region at hand.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 150 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 households with internet access in countries like Nepal and Bangladesh.

India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Broadband Pacenet (I) Private Limited data was reported at 12,017.000 Unit in Dec 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 12,375.000 Unit for Sep 2018. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Broadband Pacenet (I) Private Limited data is updated quarterly, averaging 22,167.000 Unit from Jun 2004 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 59 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 52,637.000 Unit in Dec 2014 and a record low of 10,229.000 Unit in Sep 2005. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Broadband Pacenet (I) Private 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.

India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Nextgen Communications Limited data was reported at 53,182.000 Unit in Dec 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 51,530.000 Unit for Sep 2018. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Nextgen Communications Limited data is updated quarterly, averaging 51.000 Unit from Jun 2006 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 46 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 53,182.000 Unit in Dec 2018 and a record low of 2.000 Unit in Jun 2014. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Nextgen Communications 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.

The digital buyer penetration in India stood at about ** percent in 2016. In 2018, the penetration stood at about ** percent and was further estimated to increase to over ** percent by 2020. The South Asian country had the fastest-growing retail market in 2019. The number of digital buyers in India was estimated to be around *** million in 2020. Personalized advertisements combined with attractive discounts, quick and easy delivery/return services were the key drivers within the industry. The boon of internet accessibility With around *** million users, India was the second-largest online market globally. The number of internet users was further expected to increase to over *** million by 2023. Furthermore, one in every three Indians was estimated to engage in online shopping. With digital infrastructure booming in the country, especially in the rural areas, the benefits in the e-commerce industry are likely to increase *********. Digital sale segments Electronics had the highest share with about ** percent in the e-commerce retail market across the country in 2018. This was followed by the apparel and furnishing segments. Books accounted for a share of only ******percent in the industry that year. Growth within the industry seemed directly proportional to the increase in the number of smartphone users. With expansion trends in smartphone and internet penetration, the industry was estimated to be worth about *** billion U.S. dollars by 2027.

India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Speed Online.net Private Limited data was reported at 2,369.000 Unit in Dec 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,324.000 Unit for Sep 2018. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Speed Online.net Private Limited data is updated quarterly, averaging 1,119.500 Unit from Dec 2003 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,830.000 Unit in Mar 2014 and a record low of 144.000 Unit in Dec 2003. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Speed Online.net Private 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.

As of February 2025, 5.56 billion individuals worldwide were internet users, which amounted to 67.9 percent of the global population. Of this total, 5.24 billion, or 63.9 percent of the world's population, were social media users. Global internet usage Connecting billions of people worldwide, the internet is a core pillar of the modern information society. Northern Europe ranked first among worldwide regions by the share of the population using the internet in 20254. In The Netherlands, Norway and Saudi Arabia, 99 percent of the population used the internet as of February 2025. North Korea was at the opposite end of the spectrum, with virtually no internet usage penetration among the general population, ranking last worldwide. Eastern Asia was home to the largest number of online users worldwide – over 1.34 billion at the latest count. Southern Asia ranked second, with around 1.2 billion internet users. China, India, and the United States rank ahead of other countries worldwide by the number of internet users. Worldwide internet user demographics As of 2024, the share of female internet users worldwide was 65 percent, five percent less than that of men. Gender disparity in internet usage was bigger in African countries, with around a ten percent difference. Worldwide regions, like the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe, showed a smaller usage gap between these two genders. As of 2024, global internet usage was higher among individuals between 15 and 24 years old across all regions, with young people in Europe representing the most significant usage penetration, 98 percent. In comparison, the worldwide average for the age group 15–24 years was 79 percent. The income level of the countries was also an essential factor for internet access, as 93 percent of the population of the countries with high income reportedly used the internet, as opposed to only 27 percent of the low-income markets.

India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Swiftmail Communications Limited data was reported at 5,936.000 Unit in Dec 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 5,820.000 Unit for Sep 2018. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Swiftmail Communications Limited data is updated quarterly, averaging 3,879.500 Unit from Mar 2003 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7,031.000 Unit in Mar 2014 and a record low of 1,089.000 Unit in Sep 2005. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Swiftmail Communications 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.

India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacom Private Limited data was reported at 773.000 Unit in Sep 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 773.000 Unit for Jun 2016. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacom Private Limited data is updated quarterly, averaging 2,886.000 Unit from Mar 2003 (Median) to Sep 2016, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,411.000 Unit in Mar 2014 and a record low of 171.000 Unit in Dec 2015. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacom Private 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.

India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited data was reported at 28,474,380.000 Unit in Dec 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 28,608,314.000 Unit for Sep 2018. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited data is updated quarterly, averaging 11,473,701.500 Unit from Sep 2003 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 62 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 41,423,859.000 Unit in Jun 2014 and a record low of 817,528.000 Unit in Sep 2003. India Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers: Bharat Sanchar Nigam 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.

The public cloud services market across India was forecasted to be at *****billion U.S. dollars in 2028. A public cloud uses cloud computing to make resources available for users. The services include virtual machines, applications or storage. The services could be free or subscribed. Corporate clouds offer more security due to limited users. The advantage of public cloud is the availability of service virtually through connected devices via the internet. Data on cloud services can be recovered easily in case of a loss of device or data and is usually regarded safe from cyber-attacks and hazards. Cloud service marketAcross Asia Pacific, China was dominating the cloud services spending. However, it was estimated that the compound annual growth rate in India would reach ***percent between 2023 and 2028. It could make India one of the biggest cloud service markets in Asia Pacific, along with China and Japan. Among all the segments, Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) was estimated to have the highest growth rate between 2022 and 2026 in the Asia Pacific region. Internet in India India was the second-largest online market, second only to China in 2024. With the mobile phone internet penetration estimated to reach over ***percent of the population by 2040, the access to cloud computing and services is likely to become easier and more comfortable. The approach ‘cloud first’ to ‘cloud only’ will push organizations to increase investments in the segment, to protect their digital businesses’, as digitalization of platforms also increases the exposure to cyber-attacks and risks.

The population share with mobile internet access in India was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 25 percentage points. After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the mobile internet penetration is estimated to reach 73.62 percent and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the population share with mobile internet access of was continuously increasing over the past years.The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population having access to the internet via a mobile broadband connection.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 150 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 population share with mobile internet access in countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The state of Gujarat saw a total of eleven internet shutdowns between 2014 and 2018. Out of these, 2015 had around five mobile internet blackouts as a preventive measure by the government in response to different political rallies and protests.

The revenue generated from matchmaking services for Matrimony.com amounted to around 4.72 billion Indian rupees in fiscal year 2024, up from about 4.46 billion rupees in the previous year. Matrimony.com, commonly known as Bharat Matrimony is engaged in providing online matchmaking and marriage services through internet and mobile platforms in India and internationally.

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.

This statistic shows the most popular social networks in India in March 2013, based on their number of unique visitors. During that month, Facebook had 59. 64 million unique visitors. Second-ranked LinkedIn had ***** million unique visitors.

Social media in India – additional information

Growing internet access in India goes hand in hand with the growth of social media. Across the country, individuals, businesses and politicians are utilising social media, creating an online presence and taking advantage of its various usages. For the second quarter in 2014, India’s digital population had an estimated *** million internet users, of which *** million were considered to be active social media users.

With regards to the most popular social networking sites in India in March 2013, Twitter was ranked third. This popularity ranking may change in the future due to the number of Twitter users in the country. In India the annual user growth rate for Twitter in 2012 was ** percent from 2011. The number of users is expected to grow through to 2018 but at a much slower rate. For 2018 it is expected that Twitter’s growth rate will be **** percent from the previous year.

Interestingly, sites based in North America dominate the most popular social media networks in India. Social network penetration in India as of the second quarter 2014, was highest in Facebook with a ** percent penetration rate among internet users, followed by Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn. The social network which ranked fifth was Orkut with a ** percent penetration rate among Indian internet users. The site, although owned by Google is operated and managed in Brazil as of 2008.

India’s digital journey is one of exuberance. The country had the world’s second-largest internet population at over 1.2 billion users in 2023. Of these, 1.05 billion users accessed the internet via their mobile phones. Estimates suggest that this figure would reach over 1.2 billion by 2050.

The path towards digital India

Mobile internet has been such a positive development in the country’s digital progress, that in 2019, over 73 percent of India’s total web traffic coming from mobile phones. But how did this come to be? Two main factors point to the sudden spike in mobile internet penetration in the south Asian country. Firstly, the increased availability of cheap smartphones since 2010 had created a fertile ground for digital adoption and literacy. Along with this, the Indian government understood the vitality of investments in its telecommunications sector and further opened the market with new telecom spectrum licenses.

Reliance Jio - the market disruptor

With this backdrop, in September 2016, Reliance Jio entered the Indian market, promising customers with cheap 4G, high speed data plans along with free voice calling. Within six months of its launch, the company had attracted over a 100 million customers and by the end of 2019, it had the highest wireless telecom subscriber base in India. Jio’s competitive pricing drove down the data pricing among other established telecom operators, leading to a cumulative growth in mobile internet accessibility as well as affordability.