What countries are suffering from the digital divide?

Africa

Countries in the most dire need: Ghana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali

Africa has a population of a whopping 884 million. However, there are only 4 million internet users on the entire continent. This is the greatest digital divide of any continent. This misfortune is largely due to Africa lacking the infrastructure needed to access the internet. In Africa, there are only 32 fixed telephone lines or mobile phones per 1,000 people. This is dwarfed by the number of people that own a computer which is 9.2 per 1,000 people.

Asia and the Middle East

Countries in most dire need: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan

In East Asia and the Pacific, only 21.7 per 1,000 people have a PC as compared with 392.7 per 1,000 of the population in high-income countries. The situation is even worse in South Asia where only 4.2 per 1,000 people own a PC.

The differences are mirrored when it comes to access to phone lines. In South Asia, there are only 31 fixed telephone lines or mobile phones per 1,000 people. However, in East Asia and the Pacific there are 171 lines per 1,000 people. This is still nothing compared to the 1,136 telephone lines per 1,000 people in high-income countries.

With such limited access to PCs and telephone lines, Asia, the Pacific or the Middle east only possess  4% of all internet users.

Latin America

Countries in the most dire need: Ecuador, Columbia, El Salvador

The situation in Latin America is slightly better than it is in Africa. Latin America is still significantly behind when it comes to high-income countries such as the USA and UK. There are 43.6 per 1,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean that actually own a PC. However, this is still substantially better than the 4.2 per 1,000 people in South Asia. Although, it is still nowhere near the 392.7 per 1,000 people that own PC's in high-income countries.

The situation with telephone lines is basically equivalent to the amount of PC's that exist in Latin America and the Caribbean. There are 271 fixed telephone lines or mobile phones per 1,000 people. However, this is a substantial improvement when it comes to Sub-Saharan Africa with the Sub-Saharan Africa only possessing only 32 lines per 1,000 people. However, compared to high income countries, which posses 1,136 telephone lines per 1,000 people, Latin America is still lagging..

Only 4.8% of all internet users are based in Latin America.