The US currently has the largest Internet market in the world with 181.9 million Internet users in 2006, but China with 133.5 million users is set to surpass the US by the end of the decade. Japan trails with 87.2 million users followed by Germany with 39.4 million users and the UK round out the top five with 35.1 million Internet users.
Globally the number of Internet users is set to increase. Morgan Stanley projects that by the end of 2007 there will be over 1.3 billion Internet users worldwide.
“The Internet is about 10 years old in the US and the number of Internet users continues to grow steadily, if somewhat more slowly than in the past,” says Ben Macklin, eMarketer senior analyst and the author of the new Worldwide Internet Users: 2005-2011 report. “eMarketer estimates that by 2011 there will be 211.3 million Internet users accessing the Internet at least once a month, up from 175.4 million at the end of 2005.”
By 2008, two-thirds of the population will be Internet users in the US, and this will increase to more than 70 percent of the population by 2011. “But while the US Internet population continues to grow,” says Mr. Macklin, “the rest of the world is growing even faster.”
Macklin goes on to say that China will be the largest Internet market in the world as its middle class grows and home Internet access becomes widespread. He points out that India is working to develop its telecommunications infrastructure so it can supply Internet access and meet the high demand.
Also in the Asia-Pacific region Australia is a leader in terms of Internet penetration. Its online population will continue to increase and eMarketer estimates that there will be 15.3 million Internet users in Australia in 2011 up from 13.1 million in 2006.
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