Indian Internet growth is driven by rural areas: Report

The report estimated that 56% of all new internet users in India will be from rural India by 2025

52% of India's population, or 759 million individuals, accessed the Internet at least once per month in 2022, according to the "Internet in India Report 2022" issued by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar. According to the report, 399 million of India's 759 million active internet users reside in rural areas, demonstrating that rural India continues to be the country's main online growth. The digital divide was also highlighted in the report, with states like Bihar(32%) having less than half the amount of internet spiking as compared to the top-performing state, Goa(70%).

By 2025, the number of active internet users as per the report, is expected to grow to 900 million. The report estimated that 56% of all new internet users in India will be from rural India by 2025, while urban India with approximately 71% internet penetration, witnessing only 6% growth in 2022. The gender divide was also mentioned, with 57% from the new users in 2022 were recorded to be females and 54% active internet users comprised of male users. It is also anticipated that by 2025, total 65% of all new active internet users will be women.

The three most popular services in India were discovered to be social media, digital entertainment and digital communications with social media platforms witnessing a startling 51% YoY increase in social commerce. With an expected 338 million users in 2022, 36% of whom were in rural India, digital payments also experienced a considerable uptick. Additionally, UPI users made up 99% of all users of digital payments. The report witnessed that digital payments in 2022 grew 13% over 2021 to touch almost 338 million users, of which 36% come from rural India.

The report also highlights that digital penetration has improved not only in terms of speed but also in terms of depth. For instance, while 100% of users access the internet via mobile, the use of other devices including tablets, streaming devices, ‘smart’ devices has risen from 8% in 2021 to 13% in 2022.

The complete research in general emphasizes how the prospect of internet usage and users in India is evolving and the need for ongoing initiatives to close the gap between urban and rural areas in terms of access to the internet. To advance the digitalization in India, telecom operators have already made huge investments in rural peddle and claim to reach out to every corner nationwide at the earliest making latest technologies available everywhere.