Table : Internet Penetration vs. HDI, 2009
October 7, 2009 » StatisticsOne Comment
Below is a summary of how African countries measure based on Human Development Index (the United Nations measure of well-being in a country) and the percentage of each country’s population with Internet access. Only two African nations rank in the upper half of the world, based on the HDI data, but they do not necessarily have the highest Internet penetration rates. In general, however, the better-off a nation, the greater percentage of the population with Internet access.
| Country | HDI | Rank (out of 182) | HDI Percentile | % Penetration |
| Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | 0.847 | 55 | 30% | 5% |
| Mauritius | 0.804 | 81 | 45% | 30% |
| Tunisia | 0.769 | 98 | 54% | 27% |
| Gabon | 0.755 | 103 | 57% | 6% |
| Algeria | 0.754 | 104 | 57% | 10% |
| Equatorial Guinea | 0.719 | 118 | 65% | 2% |
| Cape Verde | 0.708 | 121 | 66% | 24% |
| Egypt | 0.703 | 123 | 68% | 16% |
| Botswana | 0.694 | 125 | 69% | 5% |
| Namibia | 0.686 | 128 | 70% | 5% |
| South Africa | 0.683 | 129 | 71% | 9% |
| Morocco | 0.654 | 130 | 71% | 33% |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 0.651 | 131 | 72% | 12% |
| Congo | 0.601 | 136 | 75% | 4% |
| Comoros | 0.576 | 139 | 76% | 3% |
| Swaziland | 0.572 | 142 | 78% | 4% |
| Angola | 0.564 | 143 | 79% | 4% |
| Madagascar | 0.543 | 145 | 80% | 2% |
| Kenya | 0.541 | 147 | 81% | 9% |
| Sudan | 0.531 | 150 | 82% | 9% |
| Tanzania (United Republic of) | 0.530 | 151 | 83% | 1% |
| Ghana | 0.526 | 152 | 84% | 4% |
| Cameroon | 0.523 | 153 | 84% | 3% |
| Djibouti | 0.520 | 155 | 85% | 2% |
| Mauritania | 0.520 | 154 | 85% | 1% |
| Lesotho | 0.514 | 156 | 86% | 3% |
| Uganda | 0.514 | 157 | 86% | 8% |
| Nigeria | 0.511 | 158 | 87% | 7% |
| Togo | 0.499 | 159 | 87% | 6% |
| Malawi | 0.493 | 160 | 88% | 1% |
| Benin | 0.492 | 161 | 88% | 2% |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 0.484 | 163 | 90% | 3% |
| Zambia | 0.481 | 164 | 90% | 6% |
| Eritrea | 0.472 | 165 | 91% | 3% |
| Senegal | 0.464 | 166 | 91% | 7% |
| Rwanda | 0.460 | 167 | 92% | 3% |
| Gambia | 0.456 | 168 | 92% | 6% |
| Liberia | 0.442 | 169 | 93% | 1% |
| Guinea | 0.435 | 170 | 93% | 1% |
| Ethiopia | 0.414 | 171 | 94% | 0% |
| Mozambique | 0.402 | 172 | 95% | 2% |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0.396 | 173 | 95% | 2% |
| Burundi | 0.394 | 174 | 96% | 1% |
| Chad | 0.392 | 175 | 96% | 1% |
| Burkina Faso | 0.389 | 177 | 97% | 1% |
| Congo (Democratic Rep. of the) | 0.389 | 176 | 97% | 0% |
| Mali | 0.371 | 178 | 98% | 1% |
| Central African Republic | 0.369 | 179 | 98% | 0% |
| Sierra Leone | 0.365 | 180 | 99% | 0% |
| Niger | 0.340 | 182 | 100% | 1% |
Source: SUMMARY: Human Development Report 2009. Rep. United Nations, 2009. <http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Summary.pdf>.
*Note: Somalia and Zimbabwe were not included in the UNDP report
- Although Libya has the highest HDI of an African country, its Internet user rate is one-fifth the worldwide average
- Only Mauritius, Morocco, and Tunisia have penetration rates greater than the worldwide average
- None of the bottom 13 nations featured in the HDI report has a penetration rate greater than 2%
See a chart of the data here.
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Thanks for this!
Interesting.