India to have 900 million active internet users by 2025: IAMAI and Kantar

The number of active internet users in India is expected to touch 900 million 2025, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and London consultancy firm Kantar said in a report.

As of 2020, India had 622 million active internet users, and is set to register a growth of close to 45% over the next five years, the report said.

“By 2025, there would be a greater number of internet users in rural India than in urban India. Given this, the digital ecosystem will need to evolve to address the specific needs of this emerging demography,” said Biswapriya Bhattacharjee, executive vice president, Insights Division at Kantar.

The rural userbase has been growing at a faster rate on a year-on-year basis. While the rate of growth was 4% in India overall, the rural growth was at 13%. However, the internet touched 323 million users or 67% of the urban population, while only 31% of the rural population, or 299 million users, are active users. 

The report said that nine out of 10 active internet users access the internet every day, while they spend an average of 107 minutes on the internet in a 24-hour period. The average urban person spends 17% more time on the internet as compared to their rural counterpart.

Out of a population of 1.4 billion population, 622 million are active internet users, which is 43% of the population. This points to a huge headroom for growth in the rural markets. The top nine metros accounted for 33% of active users. 

The report also said that the gender ratio was the same in rural and urban India. The ratio of male to female in urban areas was 57:43 while that in rural India was 58:42.