WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2016 8 Figure O.5 The internet remains unavailable, inaccessible, and unaffordable to a majority of the world’s population a. ICT access by population b. A closer look at the world’s offline population Total global population Congo, Dem. Rep. Philippines ~7.4 billion Mexico 68 million 63 million Ethiopia 70 million Russian Federation Brazil 95 million 55 million Within 98 million Iran, Islamic Rep. Nigeria 54 million mobile coverage 111 million Myanmar Bangladesh 53 million billion Vietnam 7 148 million 52 million Pakistan United States 165 million 51 million Mobile phones Indonesia Tanzania 213 million 49 million China Thailand 5.2 billion 48 million 755 million Egypt, Arab Rep. 42 million Turkey 41 million Total India Total Countries internet users 1.063 billion internet users outside of billion the top 20 3.2 3.2billion High-speed High-speed internet internet 1.1 billion 1.1 billion Sources: World Bank 2015; Meeker 2015; ITU 2015; GSMA, https://gsmaintelligence.com/; UN Population Division 2014. Data at http://bit.do/WDR2016-FigO_5. Note: High-speed internet (broadband) includes the total number of fixed-line broadband subscriptions (such as DSL, cable modems, fiber optics), and the total number of 4G/LTE mobile subscriptions, minus a correcting factor to allow for those who have both types of access. 4G = fourth generation; DSL = digital subscriber line; ICT = information and communication technology; LTE = Long Term Evolution. The increased connectivity has had limited effect government. And their use of e-government is highly in reducing information inequality. For example, uneven—citizens in the top 20 percent of income in there are more contributions to Wikipedia from the most connected EU country are 45 times more Hong Kong SAR, China, than from all of Africa com- likely to use e-services than those in the bottom 20 bined, despite the fact that Africa has 50 times more percent of income in the least connected EU coun- 6 internet users. The amount of information published try (figure O.6, panel b). Within countries, greater on the web, and its origin, often corresponds to what e-government use by individuals is associated with one sees in the offline world as well. For instance, education, employment, urban residence, being male, 85 percent of the user-generated content indexed and broadband access. by Google comes from the United States, Canada, and Europe, similar to the share of global scientific journals originating in these countries. In fact, the How the internet promotes information produced and consumed in the digital development economy has little bearing on the number of users of digital technologies. Given that nearly one-fifth of the Digital technologies have dramatically expanded world’s population is illiterate, the spread of digital the information base, lowered information costs, technologies alone is unlikely to spell the end of the and created information goods. This has facilitated global knowledge divide. searching, matching, and sharing of information and Countries that have bridged the digital-access contributed to greater organization and collaboration divide often face a new divide in digital capabilities. among economic agents—influencing how firms In the European Union (EU), businesses are more operate, people seek opportunities, and citizens inter- likely than citizens to use the internet to interact with act with their governments. The changes are not lim- the government. Citizens use e-government mostly ited to economic transactions—they also influence for getting information and not for transacting with the participation of women in the labor force, the