Internet users to reach 500 Mn by June, rural India witnesses 14% growth: IAMAI

The Internet users in India is expected to reach 500 million by June this year, said the 'Internet in India 2017' report published by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar IMRB.

Number of Indian internet users will reach 500 million by June 2018, says IAMAI
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— IAMAI (@IAMAIForum) February 20, 2018

The internet population in India is growing at an average pace. At the end of December 2017, there were 481 million internet users in India, which was 11.34 per cent more from December 2016.

In the internet growth, Urban India has witnessed a growth of 9.66 per cent from December 2016 and is estimated to have around 295 million internet users as on December 2017. Whereas internet penetration in rural India grew by 14.11 per cent from December 2016 and is estimated to have amassed 186 million internet users until December last year.

In terms of penetration, rural India is far behind compared to urban India. In December 2017, Internet penetration in urban India was 64.84 per cent as compared to 20.26 per cent in rural parts of the country.

The IAMAI report also emphasised the need to ensure the digitalisation of essential services that affect day-to-day lives. Internet will be majorly driven by the next generation of services like healthtech, edutech, agritech and fintech.

In terms of numbers, in urban India out of 455 million already has 295 million using the internet. In rural India, with an estimated population of 918 million as per 2011 census, has only 186 million internet users.

In terms of Internet users by gender, male still dominant female internet users with 64:36 in rural internet users. Female Internet users consist of 30 per cent (143 million) of total Internet users. At present, around 60 per cent Internet users are students and youngsters.