Indian's Active Internet Users To Reach 900 Mn By 2025: Report

India's active internet users are likely to grow to 900 million by 2025 from the current number of 759 million, according to a report by the Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and KANTAR, a marketing data and analytics company.

The ‘Internet in India Report 2022’ pointed out that out of 759 million active internet users in India for 2022, 399 million are from rural India, while 360 million are from urban India.

The report indicated that rural India continues to drive the growth of the internet in the country.  

Urban India, with approximately 71 per cent internet penetration witnessed only six per cent growth, with much of the overall gain in numbers coming from the rural belt which saw a 14 per cent growth rate over the past year. 

It is estimated that 56 per cent of all new internet users in India will be from rural India by 2025. 

The digital divide, however, continues to plague the positive narrative with a huge disparity in internet penetrations across states, with Bihar (32 per cent) having less than half the level of internet penetration than the leading state Goa (70 per cent).  

Even though the gender divide persists to date with 54 per cent male users, it is heartening to note that 57 per cent of all new users in 2022 were females. 

"It is estimated that by 2025, 65 per cent of all new users will be women, which will help correct the gender divide," as per the report.

The report suggested that digital penetration has improved not only in terms of spread but also in terms of depth. 

For instance, while 100 per cent of users access the internet via mobile, the use of other devices (tablets, streaming devices, ‘smart’ devices) has witnessed a considerable rise over one year (from eight per cent in 2021 to 13 per cent in 2022) as Indians proactively adopt new technologies and services. 

In terms of usage, digital entertainment, digital communications and social media continue to be the most popular services in India, it mentioned.

"In fact, Indians are fast adapting social media platforms as the next e-commerce destination, with a staggering 51 per cent YoY growth in social commerce," the report stated. 

Digital payments have witnessed 13 per cent growth over 2021 to reach an estimated 338 million users, of which 36 per cent are from rural India. About 99 per cent of all digital payment users are UPI users.