One of the biggest global snapshots ever created has been released and details how different countries around the world, including Australia, use the internet and social media, consume digital content and use mobile devices.
The Global Statshot Report – commissioned by We Are Social and Hootsuite – compares different countries on things like cellular and internet speeds, use of voice assistants, listening to podcasts, smart home device ownership, playing videos games and online news consumption.
The report says there are 5.27 billion mobile phone users in the world which makes up 66.9 per cent of the population.
The internet is used by 4.8 billion globally or 60.9 per cent of the population.
Around the world there are 4.48 billion social media users which represents 56.8 per cent of the world population.
In terms of the percentage of the population that uses the Internet, Australia ranked equal 18th with 91 per cent.
When it comes to mobile Internet connection speeds Australia is fifth in the world with an average speed of 127.14Mbps. UAE was in the top spot with 193.51Gbps.
But Australia takes a serious dip when you look at the average fixed internet connection speeds ranking 32nd in the world with an average speed of 106.61Mbps.
In terms of using voice assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google, Australia ranked 18th in the world with 19.3 per cent of Australians using one of these voice assistants.
The report asked respondents between ages 16 and 34 who has listened to or watched a podcast in the past week – the result was 18.7 per cent which places Australia 15th in the world.
Australia also ranked in the top ten when it came to smart home device ownership with 15.6 per cent.
When it comes to playing games, the report showed that 23.5 per cent of Australians who play video games play daily with 73 per cent of those who do play games playing weekly which is below the global average.
The global report says there are 22.82 million internet users in Australia as of January 2021 with that number increasing by 500 and 13,000 between 2020 and 2021.
Internet penetration as of January 2021 stood at 89 per cent.
Australians loves social media with 20.5 million social media users as of January this year which remains unchanged between 2020 and 2021.
That number of users active on social media is the equivalent to 79.9 per cent of the total population.
