Business & Markets · Internet users · Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s internet users rose to 21.9% of population in 2024.
21.9% of population
2024
Up 1.6 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
21.9% of population
What it is. This measure counts the share of people in Ethiopia who use the internet, whether on a phone, a computer or any other device. Estimates usually come from household surveys and from operator and regulator data. Because it counts individuals rather than subscriptions or SIM cards, one person with two connections is counted once. It says nothing about speed, cost or how often people go online.
Higher is better. A higher share means more people can reach information, services and markets online, so a rising figure is good. The latest figure is 21.9% of population in 2024, up from 20.3% of population a year earlier, a gain of 1.6 percentage points. Since 2015 the lowest figure was 13.9% of population, recorded in 2015, and the highest is the current 21.9% of population. The latest reading is therefore the top of its range over that span.
Why it matters. At 21.9% of population, roughly one Ethiopian in five is online, so most households still sit outside digital services such as mobile payments, online learning and remote public services. Firms that sell or recruit online reach a minority of the population. For the state, any plan to deliver services digitally will reach only a small share of citizens until that share climbs further.
| Period | Internet users · Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 13.9% of population |
| 2016 | 15.4% of population |
| 2017 | 15.6% of population |
| 2018 | 15.9% of population |
| 2019 | 16% of population |
| 2020 | 16.1% of population |
| 2021 | 16.7% of population |
| 2022 | 18% of population |
| 2023 | 20.3% of population |
| 2024 | 21.9% of population |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Internet users, Ethiopia, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/internet-users/ethiopia
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Methodology
Individuals using the internet as a share of the population. Unit: % of population.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series IT.NET.USER.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.