Here's the number of people worldwide connected to the Internet.

A new United Nations report says that 4.1 billion people in the world are online.

The International telecommunication Union (ITU) UN agency said in the report released on Tuesday that the figure represents 5.3 per cent growth from 2018.

The highest percentage of Internet users is in Europe, with 82.5 percent, while the lowest in Africa by 28.2 percent, says the report.

According to the same, 3.6 billion people remain out of the Internet and most of them live in less developed countries, with an average of 2 out of 10 people online”.

The rate of women using the Internet worldwide is 48 percent, compared with 58 percent of men, says the report.

Until the digital gender gap is decreasing in the Community of Independent States and Europe, it is growing in Africa, Arab states and the Asia-Peace Zone”, the report says.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, director of the ITU Bureau for Telecommunication Development, said governments should focus on the steps “towards developing digital skills, especially in the developing world”.

Even where Internet connection exists, we need to be more creative in addressing critical issues, such as the handling of services, the cost of devices, the lack of digital skills and literacy, to enable more people, and especially women”, she added.