beyondbrics

Russia is now officially the largest internet market in Europe, taking over from Germany (as reported on beyondbrics earlier this week).

But is there room for more growth? And how does it stack up against its Bric peers? Chart of the week delves into the numbers to find out.

Russia may have the largest number of internet users in Europe, but compared to the rest of the continent it has a long way to go. Internet stats company comScore put Russia on 50.8m users, higher than Germany’s 50.1m – but that works out at around 36 per cent of the population, compared to Germany on 61 per cent.

In fact, of the European countries reported by comScore, only Turkey has a lower proportion of internet users, at 32 per cent. Poland is doing well, with 18m users – around half the population, which puts it ahead of Spain, Portugal and Italy.

But enough of Europe. What of the other Brics? Well, Russia looks rather small in comparison. See the chart below.

Source: Internet World Stats

China, of course, leads the way with more people online than live in the US, and room to grow, with around 36 per cent online. Brazil has a similar proportion of internet users.

India, however, may have a decent number of people online (around 100m) but that’s only 8 per cent of the population. India’s online users growth rate is 13 per cent, which sounds fast until compared to the other three – China and Brazil are at 18 per cent and Russia is 14 per cent (according to comScore).

Related reading:
US retailers to ride wave of China web sales, FT
China tops half a billion online, FT
Russian internet front, FT
China’s digital revolution, beyondbrics