Global internet penetration up 10 percent

comScore’s latest rankings put the U.S. first with a 2 percent rise on 2006 taking the January, 2007, level to nearly 154 million internet users. Despite this, the U.S. still only accounts for 20 percent of the total 747 million users online globally.

Many of the rapidly developing countries, such as China, Russia and India, also saw the highest rises in online population. China is now the second largest online community with 86.8 million users, a growth of 20 percent from January 2006, but India leads the way with a hefty 33 percent increase.

comScore also measured user engagement ranking countries by the average number of hours spent online per visitor during January, 2007. Those users in countries with a high broadband penetration, such as Canada, Israel and the U.K, also spent a greater amount of time online than those with slower connections.

"We have all believed that 'always-on' broadband connections stimulate usage -- this study empirically confirms that conclusion," said Bob Ivins, comScore’s managing director in Europe.

Tags: broadband, broadband penetration, comScore