21.6 Million Internet Users in the Kingdom by the End of 2015

The Communications and Information Technology Commission stated that the number of internet users in the Kingdom reached 21.6 million users by the end of 2015. Compared to the beginning of the last five years, the number of users increased by 89.5%, having been 11.4 million users in 2010. On another note, the internet penetration rate increased at high rates over the past years, reaching about 68.5% of the population by the end of 2015, compared to about 41% in 2010.

An increase in demand for internet and broadband services has recently been noted, with the significant use of and connection to social media channels, as subscribers have come to seek higher speeds and larger download capacities, and consequently the amount of data used has increased very significantly in the past few years.

The Commission expects demand for internet services to see a notable rise in the coming few years, as a result of the expansion in the provision of fiber optic (FTTx) networks and the high speeds they offer, especially in major cities as a first stage, the wide coverage of third- and fourth-generation networks across the various regions of the Kingdom, and the increasing factors supporting and boosting internet content, as well as the spread of smart handheld devices, their falling prices, and the internet-based programs and applications they contain.