Despite talk of Digital India, only one-in-four in the country reported using the Internet in 2017, which is among the lowest in the world, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.
While the gap in Internet use between emerging and advanced economies has narrowed in recent years, there are still large swaths of the world where significant numbers of citizens do not use the Internet, and India is one of them, according to the survey conducted in 37 countries. A look what the survey says on Internet usage in India:
Caged in age: Nearly thrice as many younger adults use the internet in India, compared to the older adults – with 35% of the 18-36 year olds net savvy, compared to just 13% of the 37 plus crowd, according to a report.
Classes apart: For every one non-collegiate educated adult owning a smartphone, there are almost 5 graduates in India who own a smartphone.
No quarters given: A little over a fourth of adult Indians do not even own a mobile phone, leave alone a smartphone – more than half, or 52% of adult Indians have a basic mobile phone and not a smartphone.
Gender gap: Just 11% of adult women in India use social networking sites, compared to 28% of adult men – in line with the trend in developing economies where social media usage tilts towards men.
