Top Internet Countries

Asian & European Nations Have the Most Web Users

Aug 30, 2007
Daniel Workman

Internet Web URL Screenshot - ppdigital@MORGUEFILE.COM (32827)

E-commerce site owners must carefully consider which countries are home to the largest and fastest-growing Net audiences as well as online translation requirements.

Whether marketing gourmet chocolates or premium coffee beans via the World Wide Web, successful Internet businesses must research the latest trends in the global electronic marketplace.

For example, Internet users in Asian countries account for 37.2% of the world’s total compared to just 19.8% for North America. Europe is in second place with 27.4% of global Web users.

And while the United States leads the world with about 211 million users, opportunities for adding more American Web surfers are relatively limited. Almost 70% of U.S. residents have already gone online.

In fact, the estimated number of Internet users in China may soon overtake the comparable statistic for the more mature U.S. market.

Countries with the Most Internet Users

United States (18% of world total) … 210.6 million users
China (13.8%) … 162 million
Japan (7.4%) … 86.3 million
Germany (4.3%) … 50.4 million
India (3.6%) … 42 million
Brazil (3.3%) … 39.1 million
United Kingdom (3.2%) … 37.6 million
South Korea (2.9%) … 34.1 million
France (2.8%) … 32.9 million
Italy (2.7%) … 31.5 million

Just 12.3% of China’s population currently use the Internet. Other promising e-business markets include India where only 3.7% of residents are Internet users and Brazil where 21% of Brazilians visit online Web sites.

Fastest-Increasing Internet Users by Country

India … 740% increase from 2002 to 2007 (3.7% of nation’s population use Internet)
Brazil … 682.8% increase (21% use Internet)
China … 620% increase (12.3% use Internet)
France … 287.4% increase (53.7% use Internet)
United Kingdom … 144.2% increase (62.3% use Internet)
Italy … 138.5% increase (52.9% use Internet)
United States … 115.2% increase (69.7% use Internet)
Germany … 110.1% increase (61.1% use Internet)
Japan … 83.3% increase (67.1% use Internet)
South Korea … 79.2% increase (66.5% use Internet)

Less than one third of their potential Web audience uses English when online. Arabic and Portuguese are two of the fastest-growing online languages.

The following top 10 online languages represent over 85% of all Internet communication.

Top Online Languages

English (31.2% of world total) … 365.9 million users (up 158% since 2002)
Chinese (15.7%) … 184 million (up 470%)
Spanish (8.7%) … 101.5 million (up 311%)
Japanese (7.4%) … 86.3 million (up 83%)
French (5%) … 59.2 million (up 385%)
German (5%) … 59 million (up 113%)
Portuguese (4%) … 47.3 million (up 525%)
Korean (2.9%) … 34.1 million (up 79%)
Italian (2.7%) … 31.5 million (up 139%)
Arabic (2.5%) … 28.8 million (up 941%)

Often international trade companies will run two separate websites, for example one in English and another version in Japanese.

However, multiple websites aren't always necessary because online translation services like Babel Fish Translation can be added to a site for free. Similarly, easily accessible Google language tools enable users to translate Web pages in more than 40 languages.