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 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.

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.

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.

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

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

Forecast: Total Internet Users in India 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

As a country with a population of over *** billion, India had around *** million active internet users in 2022. It was estimated that in 2025, the number of active internet users would surpass *** million. Although there was a gap between the percentage of urban and rural active internet users, it has been narrowing with development.

While men constituted more than half of the active internet users in India, female users accounted for 46 percent in 2023. Over the years, the gender gap among Indian internet users appears to have been closing. In 2023, the overall number of internet users in the country amounted to over 800 million, with most of them residing in rural India.

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’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.

India Internet: Subscribers: Wired data was reported at 21,420,000.000 Unit in Dec 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 21,250,000.000 Unit for Sep 2018. India Internet: Subscribers: Wired data is updated quarterly, averaging 20,760,000.000 Unit from Dec 2013 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 21,670,000.000 Unit in Jun 2017 and a record low of 18,330,000.000 Unit in Dec 2013. India Internet: Subscribers: Wired data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.TE040: Internet Statistics: Number of Subscribers.

In an April 2024 survey of home internet users across India, around ** percent of those with fiber, broadband, DSL, or fixed line connections reported slower internet speeds than expected, and ** percent experienced frequent disruptions. Most home internet users in India prefer these types of connections over dongles and mobile hotspots.

Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share: All Platforms: Youku data was reported at 0.040 % in 02 May 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.010 % for 01 May 2024. Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share: All Platforms: Youku data is updated daily, averaging 0.000 % from Jan 2024 (Median) to 02 May 2024, with 111 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.200 % in 26 Mar 2024 and a record low of 0.000 % in 30 Apr 2024. Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share: All Platforms: Youku data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statcounter Global Stats. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.SC.IU: Internet Usage: Social Media Market Share.

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.

As of January 2021, China ranked first with around 939.8 million internet users while India achieved second place with 624 million internet users. China and India were not only leading within the Asia Pacific region, but had the highest number of internet users worldwide. The Asia Pacific region had the largest number of internet users globally, however, internet penetration in Asia was still below the global average.

Internet usage in Asia Pacific When it comes to the demographic of Asia Pacific’s internet users, the region has more male than female internet users. The daily time individuals spent using the internet across the Asia Pacific region has consistently increased from the onset of 2011. There are also expectations that the daily time spent using the internet will continue to increase through to 2021.

Mobile internet Mobile internet has been an area which has undergone a strong development across the globe throughout recent years. Mobile network download speeds in the Asia Pacific region have seen vast improvements, with South Korea, Japan, and Singapore all having exhibited impressive download speeds. As such, mobile internet user penetration across the Asia Pacific region was forecasted to increase dramatically by 2025.

The number of mobile internet users in India increased by 15.39 percent in 2020. A steady decline in new users is expected in the coming years with the growth rate for 2025 estimated at 5.14 percent.

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.