According to the report, the United States continues to dominate the Internet population with 166 million users, or 30 percent of the total, followed by Europe with 24 percent, Asia-Pacific with 14 percent and Latin America with 3 percent. Germany, with 32 million users, the United Kingdom, with 29 million, and Italy, with 22 million, are among the largest non-U.S. markets.

"The vast majority of the world's Internet audience is still centered in the major Internet markets," said NetRatings director and senior analyst Lisa Strand. "Combined, these countries account for almost half of the total Internet audience worldwide."

Market Saturation?

For that reason, Strand told the E-Commerce Times, slowing growth rates make sense. "The growth does slow down when you reach a point where most of a population is already online," she said, citing the United States as an example. "We're seeing much faster growth in countries that have only begun to come onto the Internet."

Meanwhile, e-commerce appears to be gaining strength, with more adult Web users around the world browsing or buying online. For instance, surfers in Sweden were 4 percent more likely to buy online in the second quarter of 2002 than they were in the year's first quarter.

Speed Freaks

The report also found that the rate of broadband Internet adoption in the United States is slowing, likely as a direct result of the economic slump and a lack of availability. Strand noted that nearly 10 percent of active broadband users in the United States live in and around New York.

Worldwide, Hong Kong residents are embracing broadband at a rate far higher than people who live anywhere else. About two-thirds of all Hong Kong Web users have high-speed connections, compared with just 17 percent in the United States.

"In every other country, including the U.S., the majority of surfers use a 56k or slower modem to access the Internet," Strand said. She noted that the Hong Kong figures show "a well-developed high-speed infrastructure and the consumer desire to attain information at faster rates."

Just Surfing

But those higher connection speeds have not substantially altered how Hong Kong residents use the Internet, though they are the most voracious consumers of Internet radio, with 36 percent accessing an online radio station in the last quarter. (continued...)

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