India Recorded Over 700 Mn Daily Internet Users In 2022: Report

The count of active internet users aged two years and above reached over 700 Mn in India, as of December 2022, according to Nielsen’s India Internet Report 2023.

Further, the count of active internet users aged 12 years and above grew by over 20% year-on-year (YoY) to 595 Mn in the year 2022.

According to the report, over 450 Mn internet users, aged 12 years and above were engaged in video content including watching and calling.

The report further noted that online banking and digital payments grew by 43% while consumption of digital news by 20%. Nonetheless, these categories have plenty of room for future growth.

Comparing the active internet users present in rural and urban areas, the report said that the rural user base increased by 44% to 425 Mn in 2022 as compared to 295 Mn active internet users in urban areas. 

Notably, in 2022, the count of rural and urban internet users grew by 30% and 10% respectively as compared to the previous year (2021). Additionally, in 2022, the number of female internet users grew by 27% whereas male users increased by around 18%.

The report revealed that the country’s rural areas hold immense potential for growth as nearly half of the rural demographic is still not actively using the internet. Also, the gap in internet access between rural and urban areas also narrowed down in the previous year (2022), with rural areas and urban areas seeing 93% and 86% daily internet users respectively.

Furthermore, out of the 1.3 Bn population in India, merely 450 Mn people owned smartphones in the country in 2022.

The report has come at a time when we are expecting India’s active internet user base to grow to 900 Mn at a CAGR of 45% by 2025, according to the IAMAI and Kantar report. 

Recently, MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar also called India the largest connected nation in the world, with over 800 Mn broadband users. 

He further emphasised that the Centre needs to develop tech innovations and upgrade regulatory policies to remain relevant. 

As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) data, the total broadband subscribers in India increased to 816.24 Mn by September 2022 from 813.94 Mn in August 2022.