Mumbai, March 10 2019:  Internet usage in India has touched half a billion people  finds market researcher  Kantar IMRB's ICUBE  2018 report on digital adoption and usage trends in India.
The annual tracking study gauges the changing digital ecosystem in India, measuring Internet usage by demographic, activityand device segments.
Key findings:
- The number of Internet users in India has registeredan annual growth of 18% and is estimated at 566 million as of December 2018 - 40% overall internet penetration.
- The report also projects double digit growth for 2019 and estimates that the number of internet users will reach 627 million bythe end of this year.
- Of the total user base, 87% or493 million Indians,are defined as regularusers, having accessedinternet in last 30 days. 293 million active internet users reside in urban India, while there are 200 million active users in rural India.Unsurprisingly, 97% of users use mobile phone as one of the devices to access Internet
Rural India
While internet users grew by 7% in urban India,reaching 315 million users in 2018,digital adoption is now being propelled by rural India – registering a 35% growth in internet users over the past year. It is now estimated that there are 251 million internet users in rural India, and this is expected to reach290 million by the end of 2019.Increased availability of bandwidth, cheap dataplans and increased awareness driven by government programmes seem to have rapidly bridged the digital gap between urban and rural India. Consequently, the penetration in Rural India has increased from 9% in 2015 to 25% in 2018
Bihar leads in Internet user addition
With one of the highest growth rates in the state GDP, it is no wonder that Bihar registered the highest growth in Internet users across both urban and rural areas; registering a growth of 35% over last year. This is closely followed by Orissa. 
Internet more gender balanced |
The gender digital divide is now closing. Kantar ICUBE 2018 reports that women today comprise 42% of total Internet users. Besides their sheer presence in the digital universe, women are also equally engaged and active in the digital world – spending as much time on the Internet as men.|
Says Preeti Reddy, CEO, Kantar South Asia: “The Internet is transforming the way consumers and marketers interact with each other in today’s digital world. Kantar IMRB’s ICUBETM; which has trackedthedigital evolutionin India for last 20 years, provides key measurement metrics necessary for planning any digital marketing or communication initiative. ICUBE™ continues to provide government, policy makers, digital businesses, marketers and communication specialists the intelligence necessary to stay on top of the developments across different facets of digital platforms and services.”

Kantar IMRB is a pioneer of market research services in Asia.