The changing face of India's internet users

More women, more people from rural areas, and more with lower incomes are now using the internet and using it more often, according to a new report highlighting how internet use continues to spread across all strata of Indian society.

Key findings  

The India Internet Report 2023, from research company Nielsen and reported in the Economic Times, finds that: 

• The total number of regular internet users in the country (at end December 2022) was 720 million, of which 425 million were from rural India (so, 44% more than urban India). 
• The gap between urban and rural use is shrinking: rural usage increased 40% in 2022 vs 2021, and 86% of people in these areas went online every day (compared to 93% of urban users).
• Some 85 million smartphone users in rural India shared their devices, often for the purpose of watching video. 
• Over the same period, usage by women was up 35% and usage by those at the lower end of the income and education spectrum (NCCS DE) was up 30%.
• One of the fastest growing areas of use is online banking and digital payments – up 43%.

Why it matters

“The message from Nielsen's latest India Internet Report is that media planners need to get out of the reach game and get more creative to leverage the new type of audiences coming online,” says the Business Standard. 

Sourced from Business Standard, Economic Times