As of January 2024, Morocco had an internet penetration of approximately 91 percent, making it the country with the highest internet penetration in Africa. Libya ranked second, with around 88 percent, followed by Seychelles with roughly 87 percent. On the other hand, South Sudan, Burundi, and The Central African Republic had the lowest prevalence of internet among their population.
Varying but growing levels of internet adoption
Although internet usage varies significantly across African countries, the overall number of internet users on the continent jumped to around 646 million from close to 181 million in 2014. Of those, almost a third lived in Nigeria and Egypt only, two of the three most populous countries on the continent. Furthermore, internet users are expected to surge, reaching over 1.1 billion users by 2029.
Mobile devices dominate web traffic
Most internet adoptions on the continent occurred recently. This is among the reasons mobile phones increasingly play a significant role in connecting African populations. As of early January 2024, around 74 percent of the web traffic in Africa was via mobile phones, over 14 percentage points higher than the world average. Furthermore, almost all African countries have a higher web usage on mobile devices compared to other devices, with rates as high as 92 percent in Sudan. This is partly due to mobile connections being cheaper and not requiring the infrastructure needed for traditional desktop PCs with fixed-line internet connections.
Share of internet users in Africa as of January 2024, by country
The source adds the following information:"Important source and base changes due to significant changes in the source reporting approaches. Values are not comparable with previous reports and any comparisons with data published in previous reports may result in incorrect values."
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Kepios, & We Are Social, & DataReportal. (January 31, 2024). Share of internet users in Africa as of January 2024, by country [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved September 01, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124283/internet-penetration-in-africa-by-country/
Kepios, und We Are Social, und DataReportal. "Share of internet users in Africa as of January 2024, by country." Chart. January 31, 2024. Statista. Accessed September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124283/internet-penetration-in-africa-by-country/
Kepios, We Are Social, DataReportal. (2024). Share of internet users in Africa as of January 2024, by country. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124283/internet-penetration-in-africa-by-country/
Kepios, and We Are Social, and DataReportal. "Share of Internet Users in Africa as of January 2024, by Country." Statista, Statista Inc., 31 Jan 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124283/internet-penetration-in-africa-by-country/
Kepios & We Are Social & DataReportal, Share of internet users in Africa as of January 2024, by country Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124283/internet-penetration-in-africa-by-country/ (last visited September 01, 2024)
Share of internet users in Africa as of January 2024, by country [Graph], Kepios, & We Are Social, & DataReportal, January 31, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124283/internet-penetration-in-africa-by-country/