• by Masha Geller , May 29, 2003

Here's a quick look at the world through the online lens. According to the latest numbers from Nielsen//NetRatings, the U.S. still leads the world with the largest Internet population, accounting for 30% of global Internet access, followed by Europe with 24%, Asia Pacific with 13% and Latin America with 2%.

Based on data from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the U.K, globally, both the number of households and the number of people with access to the Internet via a home PC increased 12% since Q1, 2002, and from 580 million people in Q4, 2002 to 585 million in Q1, 2003.

Of the ten countries, Germany (37.1 million), the United Kingdom (29 million) and Italy (24.1 million) have the largest number of people with Internet access via a home PC. Combined, these three countries account for more than half (54%) of the total Internet audience for all 10 countries. Brazil displays enormous potential for future growth where an additional 21% of the telephone household population plans to acquire Internet access in the next 12 months.

Sweden, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Australia continue to be more mature Internet markets in their Web usage. These four are the clear leaders across key statistics, including the percentage of people with access to the Internet via a home PC (all countries are 57%+); percentage that own/lease a home PC (all 64%+); and high Internet connection rates (all 80%+) for those who have a PC in their home.

NetRatings also says that compared to a year ago, 56k modems are being replaced by high speed Internet access. All countries have experienced an increase in the percentage of households with broadband connection since Q1, 2002, with the exception of Germany and Italy. Sweden and Brazil had the largest percentage increase (16%) in broadband connection since last year, while Hong Kong continues to be the leading country with a significantly higher percentage of broadband connections than low speed connections (65% vs. 16%).

Keep all that in mind in case you're thinking of going global with your next online campaign.