India recorded 700 million or more active internet users aged two years and older as of December 2022, according to Nielsen’s India Internet Report 2023. Rural India reached 425 million registered internet users, almost 44% higher than urban areas, which had 295 million active internet users.
The active internet user base aged 12 years and older grew more than 20% year-on-year to reach 595 million in 2022. The rural area again outshone urban areas with a growth of 30% in the number of active internet users. Urban India, on the other hand, grew by only 10%. The country’s rural areas hold immense potential for growth as nearly half of the rural demographic is still not actively using the internet.Â
The study further highlighted that nearly 90% of internet users were daily users. The gap between urban and rural also narrowed compared to the previous year, with 93% of urban and 86% of rural daily users using the internet daily.
Female internet users grew by 27%, whereas male users increased by around 18%.
The count of active internet users aged two years and above reached over 700 Mn in India. Over 450 Mn internet users, aged 12 years and above were engaged in video content. The rural user base increased by 44% to reach 425 Mn in 2022. The urban internet users count is 295 Mn.
There were 450+ million monthly video watchers in India, with video watching and video calling being the top two online activities amongst those aged 12 and older. 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.
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 Inia’s active internet user base to grow 9000mn at a CAGR of 45% by 2025.
