UAE tops Arab countries in Internet Penetration, followed by Qatar, Bahrain & Kuwait

According to the Internet World Stats, number of internet users in the Middle East (Asian part of the Arab world, Iran and Israel) grow up from 3.2 million users in year 2000 to 41.9 millions in 2008, more than 1,300%. Of course if we removed the two non-Arab countries in Middle East’s numbers, the total number of users crumbles down to 15.2 millions. The total number of users in Arab countries in Africa reached 23 millions this year, so the total users in the Arab world according to the Internet World Stats is 38 millions, I guess Maktoob Research confirmed 40, which means we have a reasonable estimation.

Over the past 8 years, number of internet users in North America increased by 226%, jumping from 108 millions in 2000 to 248 this year, which represents 73.6% of the total population, the highest internet penetration in the world. Australia/Oceania, which came second with an internet penetration that reached 59.5%, witnessed an increment in number of users that exceeded 20 millions compared to 7.6 in year 2000. The internet penetration in Europe reached 48.1%, with number of users jumping from 105 to 384 millions.

However I believe the number of users is what matters, the below chart shows the total number of users in each region:

The percentages show that the UAE is ahead in terms of internet penetration in the Arab world with 49.8% of the population, compared to 37.8% in Qatar, 34.8% in Bahrain, 34.7% in Kuwait, and 23.9% in Lebanon. But if we want to talk numbers not percentages, Egypt comes first with 8.6 million internet users, followed by Morocco with 7.3 millions, Saudi Arabia with 6.2 millions, Algeria with 3.5 millions, and UAE with 2.3 millions, personally I believe this what really matters.

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