How many people on Earth are offline? Here's how to measure the digital divide.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2.6 billion people remain offline worldwide, equivalent to approximately 32% of the world's population. The data is from last year, but to give you an idea, the number in 2023 was 2.8 billion (35%). This is an improvement; we are closing the gap, but very slowly. Before jumping to quick conclusions about modernity and poverty, we need to consider the statistics behind these estimates. The ITU collects official data from its member states on the number of individuals using the internet, broken down by gender, age, urban/rural area, and other parameters. Essentially, it measures the "disconnected" by subtracting those who are online from the total population. On the other hand, behind the number of disconnected people lies a whole human geography: those who live in rural areas, in the poorest countries, those who cannot afford the service or see no use for it. We know that many live in rural areas, less developed countries (where access is 27%), or in regions where internet access is prohibitively expensive. This doesn't just include those who don't have physical access to an internet connection: it also includes those who don't use it due to a lack of skills, high costs, lack of interest, or cultural barriers. Ongoing efforts—5G in cities, fiber optic lines, satellite, training campaigns—are starting to show, but there's a long way to go. It doesn't just include those who don't have physical access to an internet connection: it also includes those who don't use it due to a lack of skills, high costs, lack of interest, or cultural barriers.

Eurispes has produced a report on digital transformation in Italy, highlighting the challenges and opportunities the country faces in this area. Here, the researchers write, the demographic context is characterized by a median age of 47.9, among the highest in Europe, with a population over 65 representing nearly a quarter of the total. This data impacts the structure of digital citizenship, creating significant gaps. Increased access to the Internet has not been matched by improvements in the quality of use and capacity for inclusion. In 2024, 87.7% of the population (51.6 million people) will be connected to the Internet, yet over 7 million citizens are completely excluded, especially among the elderly, those living in the suburbs, inland areas, and low-income families. Almost all users use a smartphone as their primary device, just over half also use a PC, but access to complex services such as SPID or CIE is limited. According to the 2025 Eurobarometer Report, only 43% of Italian citizens interacted with public administration through digital services in the last year, compared to an EU average of 61%. This figure reflects less a lack of infrastructure than a series of cultural, technical, and organizational factors that limit the full use of digital services, even when they are available. In recent years, Italy has made significant progress in adopting key tools such as SPID, CIE, the IO App, pagoPA, and the Electronic Health Record (FHR). According to AGID (2024), over 36 million citizens have active SPID credentials, but the rate of use is uneven: only 37% of holders use SPID regularly to access public administration services.

Young people spend an average of over 2 hours and 20 minutes a day on social media, and only 18% report using the internet for educational activities or civic engagement. This gap between digital consumption and critical use reveals a structural weakness in digital skills. "Italy," Erispes concludes, "has surpassed the milestone of basic digitalization. The real challenge now is to move towards qualitative use."