World Population Day 2023: What Country Generates the Most Traffic to the Largest Websites?

World Population Day is an annual event that draws attention to global population issues. As the world’s population continues to grow (expected to reach 8 billion this October) and becomes more interconnected, it is interesting to look at different countries’ traffic contributions to the most visited websites.

In this article, we will analyze the geopolitical forces that shape these contributions. By examining the connection between population dynamics and online activity, we draw valuable insights regarding the digital landscape and its relationship with socio-political factors.

What is World Population Day, and where did it originate from?

On 11 July 1987, the world observed the Day of Five Billion. This ignited UN resolution 45/216 in December 1990, in which the UN General Assembly decided to continue observing World Population Day to raise awareness of the relationship between population and development and environmental issues.

Ever since its inaugural day in 1990, World Population Day has been marked on 11 July. It is observed by the UNFPA (UN Population Fund) in collaboration with governments and civil society organizations.

What is the theme for World Population Day 2023?

According to the UNFPA, World Population Day 2023 will focus on gender equality. Women and girls make up 49.7% of our world’s population. Their marginalization in education, the workforce, and leadership positions limits their ability to make decisions about their health and puts them at greater risk of becoming victims of violence.

This is also reflected in internet usage. Our data show a significant 16% gap in the gender distribution of web traffic to the world’s top 100 visited websites.

This is a key indicator of the gap in connectivity between male and female internet users. The internet is known to be a source of social mobilization. It is no coincidence that the gap in internet usage is much bigger in developing second and third-world countries than in developed countries.

Overpopulation is a concern. What about excessive traffic?

The concerns that the UN wishes to address by observing World Population Day, and mainly the threat of overpopulation on the environment, also relate to online traffic. As the population grows, so does online internet usage. Not only are there more people in the world but also a growing percentage of the population now has access to the Internet.

Every online activity, such as an email, an instant message, or a single search, is powered by energy. Whether it is the electricity that powers our devices, or the vast energy used to power the data centers and servers. According to the BBC, internet activity accounts for approximately 3.7% of emitted greenhouse gasses, equivalent to the entire global airline industry.

Which country is responsible for the most online traffic?

To answer this question, we analyzed the geographical traffic share of the 100 websites with the most visits over the last 12 months (June 2022 – May 2023).

Unsurprisingly, the USA leads by a landslide. It accounts for roughly a fifth of all online activity. Why? Well, we can think of a few reasons:

• 3rd in the world in population
• 92% of its population has access to the internet
• The largest economy in the world
• The highest number of technology companies in the world (35%)
• Representative democratic regime

Another country that’s worth noting, punching way above their weight, is the United Kingdom. Ranking 21st in the world in total population, the UK has 2,043.1 visits per capita to the top 100 websites, a strong indicator of the country’s leading economic position and internet adoption. Boasting a £150 billion tech industry (#1 in Europe, #3 in the world) helps the UK contribute significantly larger traffic volumes than countries with larger populations.

China’s traffic to the top websites doesn’t match its size

The far-east country, which has recently lost its historical position as the most populous country to India, falls far behind the USA in terms of traffic share to the biggest websites in the world. Whereas the US provides 17% of traffic to the most visited websites with just 4% of the world’s population, China provides 4% of traffic with an 18% population share.

Now, it’s not that the Chinese are not on the internet. On the contrary, ever since 2008, China is the country with the largest population on the internet. It’s just that they’re on a different internet than most of the world. The major search engines, social media platforms, such as Google, YouTube, and Facebook, and major publishers, and streaming services are blocked in China due to tough censorship, known as “The Great Chinese Firewall”. These sites comprise a lion’s share of the top 100 visited websites.

So how is China still in the top 10 traffic contributors to the 100 websites with the most visitors?

The answer is that the list still includes some big-name Chinese websites:

Despite stricter regulation, Russia is still a leading player

Russia ranks 9th in total population, but 4th in traffic share to the top 100 visited websites. Like China, the authorities in Russia have gradually censored access to an increasing number of websites. This process was accelerated since the country launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022.

The fact that Russia ranks relatively high can be explained by its population’s literacy rate and access to the Internet compared to countries with a larger population:

Russia’s high ranking is also due to its developed IT sector, generating $36.7b in annual revenue (3.7% of the GDP). Like China, it also has an internet of its own. Its search engine, yandex.ru, is the 8th largest website in the world. Other popular sites include the social network, vk.com (25th in the world), mail.ru (30th), and the decentralized instant messaging platform, Telegram (52nd). In total, Russian websites have 10 spots on the top 100 list of most visited sites in the world.

Africa’s lack of traffic share is (another) sign of its disadvantage

Like many other socio-economic factors, traffic share is another one in which African countries are lagging. As explained before, this is mainly due to connectivity and literacy rates. The continent, which accounts for 16.7% of the world’s population, has only 10 countries in the top 100 traffic contributors to the top visited websites.

As seen in the list above, all of the countries, besides Tunisia, rank significantly lower in the list of traffic providers to the top visited websites compared to their population ranking. The situation is extremely dire in Ethiopia, which has a 16.7% internet penetration rate, as of 2023.

It is anticipated that, as time passes, African countries, which account for nine out of the ten fastest-growing populations, will contribute more to website traffic due to their rapidly increasing population, indicating that younger generations are likely to join the digital world.

What does the future of web traffic share hold?

As stated in this article, a country’s contribution to traffic share depends on multiple geopolitical factors, which are extremely dynamic. However, many gaps stemming from economic and political factors, are significant and will be difficult to close.

An area we hope to see significant change is gender distribution. Hopefully, a report ahead of World Population Day 2024 will look different. Processes like urbanization and economic growth in developing countries will also bring about more opportunities for women, which will be reflected in a more equal share of traffic.