Statistics Bureau Survey: More than half of the country’s population is still outside internet access

Despite the expansion of digital services and smartphone usage, more than half of the people in Bangladesh are still outside internet access. According to the latest survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 51.1 percent of the country’s population currently does not use the internet. Stakeholders in the sector have described this situation as disappointing.

These findings were revealed in the third-quarter (July–September) report of the BBS survey titled “Survey on ICT Use at Individual and Household Levels–2024”, published on Wednesday. The survey was conducted on 61,632 households across the country and included data on citizens aged five years and above.

According to the survey, the rate of internet users in the country stood at 48.9 percent as of September this year. This means that more than one out of every two people in the country still remains outside the digital network. The picture at the household level is also not very encouraging. During the July–September period, only 56 percent of households had at least one internet user. Overall, currently 50.4 percent of households are covered by the internet, which was 55.1 percent at the end of the 2024–25 fiscal year.

Comparing Bangladesh with neighboring countries, former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) AKM Fahim Mashroor said Bangladesh’s position is alarming. According to him, while nearly 70 percent of people in India and more than 60 percent in Pakistan use the internet, the rate in Bangladesh is still below 50 percent.

At present, 81 out of every 100 people in the country use mobile phones. However, only 57 percent of people own a personal mobile phone. At the same time, the number of internet users in the country has exceeded 83 million.

According to the latest national census of the BBS, the total population of the country is 169.8 million. Based on this, approximately 136.9 million people currently use mobile phones. Among them, 95.9 million people own a personal mobile phone.

The BBS survey also clearly highlights disparities between men and women as well as between rural and urban areas. While 51.2 percent of men use the internet, the rate among women is 46.3 percent. Men are also ahead in mobile phone ownership—63 percent of men own personal phones, compared to 53 percent of women.

In urban areas, 81 percent of households have smartphones, while in rural areas the figure is 69 percent. However, the positive aspect is that 99 percent of households in the country have electricity connections and at least one mobile phone. Despite this, only 9.1 percent of households own a computer.

High prices and the burden of taxes have been identified as the main barriers to internet use. According to him, nearly half of a customer’s spending on mobile data goes to the government in the form of VAT, supplementary duty, revenue sharing, and spectrum fees. As a result, low-income and marginalized people are being deprived of internet access. Experts say that unless internet prices are reduced and the tax structure is reformed, the country’s digital inclusion will fall further behind.