Rand five percent of Germans between the ages of 16 and 74 have never used the Internet. This means that around 3.1 million people were so-called offline in Germany in 2023, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden on Tuesday. In the European Union (EU), according to Eurostat, the average share of offline users was six percent in the same year.
According to federal statisticians, Germany had the highest percentage of people going offline in the 65-74 age group, at about 15 percent. However, there were still two percent of those aged 16-44 who had never used the Internet.
In 2023, about 33 percent of the world's population will be offline
In the EU, there were clear differences between member states: in Luxembourg, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, less than one percent of 16-74 year olds said they had never used the internet. The highest shares were recorded in Croatia and Greece – 14 and 13 percent. Portugal and Bulgaria were behind them with twelve percent each.
Globally, a third of the world's population lacked access to the Internet. Statisticians in Wiesbaden explained that this is based on estimates from the United Nations International Telecommunication Union. In 2023, about 33 percent of the world's population was offline—that's 2.6 billion people worldwide.
In Europe – including non-EU countries – and America, the Internet is more accessible. In 2023, nine percent or 13 percent of the population still did not have an Internet connection.