In 2016, more than half of the world’s population did not use the Internet, with large differences in usage between different regions of the world. In the Americas and the Commonwealth of Independent States regions, about 35% of the population is off-line. The equivalent Internet nonuser percentages for other regions are 75% for Africa, 58% for the Arab states and Asia and the Pacific region, and 21% for Europe (based on 2016 data from the International Telecommunication Union). Mobile broadband networks (3G or above) reach 84% of the global population, although differences in terms of broadband speeds and quality still exist. This entry reviews the main debates, research strands, and developments that characterize Internet nonuse research and concludes by discussing strategies to reduce Internet nonuse.

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