Top ten countries ranked by number of Internet users in 2016

The table illustrates the ten countries with the largest number of Internet users in 2016, providing data on total user counts, population percentages, and overall population figures.

Overall, China and India dominated in terms of absolute user numbers, whereas developed nations like the U.K. and Japan exhibited significantly higher Internet penetration rates relative to their total populations.

China led the rankings with 721,434,547 Internet users, representing 52.2% of its population. India followed in second place with 462,124,989 users, although this accounted for a much lower proportion of 34.8%. The U.S. ranked third with 286,942,362 users, reflecting a high penetration rate of 88.5%. Brazil and Japan occupied the fourth and fifth positions, with 139,111,185 and 115,111,595 users respectively, with Japan showing a notably high penetration of 91.1%.

In the lower half of the table, Russia, Nigeria, and Germany had user bases ranging from approximately 71 million to 102 million. Notably, the U.K. had the highest penetration rate on the list at 92.6%, despite having the smallest total population of the group at 65,111,143. Conversely, Mexico, while ranking tenth with 58,016,997 users, had one of the lowest penetration rates at 45.1%, similar to Nigeria's 46.1%.