According to the World Data Lab’s Internet Poverty Index, Nigeria has the world’s highest number of Internet poor people.
The report is said to have ranked 169 countries according to information received.
In 2022, it was estimated that 1.39 billion people in the world would be Internet poor and that Internet poverty affects 47.39 per cent (103.02 million people) of Nigeria’s 217.37 million inhabitants.
According to The Punch, Nigeria, India, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Brazil, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tanzania, Indonesia, and South Africa account for 51.43 per cent (714.79 million) of the world’s Internet poor.
The research lab stated that, like food, clothing, housing, and electricity, the Internet connection is increasingly being seen as a basic demand, and that the capacity to assess Internet poverty might increase awareness and identify the most vulnerable people.
The lab said, “Internet poverty is measured by how many people can or cannot afford a minimum package of mobile internet.
“Moreover, it is based on three assumed pillars: affordability, quantity, and quality. Affordability, where up to 10 per cent of total individual spending is assumed. Quantity, where 1GB per month is assumed. Quality, where 10Mbps download speed is assumed.
“The hedonic pricing method is used to assess prices of mobile internet around the world, based on Internet quality and a set of socioeconomic variables. The variable of internet quality is fixed to project the cost of 1GB of mobile internet at that quality globally.
“These numbers are then combined with individual spending distributions to calculate the number of people who have the ability to afford that package of mobile internet (including up to 10 per cent of total individual spending).”
