Women in low- andmiddle-income countries are increasingly adopting mobile internet much faster than men, after stalling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The industry body notes that mobile remains the primary – and often only – way people in LMICs access the internet, accounting for 84% of broadband connections in 2023.In an interview with ITWeb, Sibthorpe says it’s pleasing to see the gender gap is narrowing once again. “It will be also important to continue to track this to see whether women’s rate of mobile internet adoption will continue to increase, and the mobile internet gender gap will continue to narrow.”
The report highlights that beyond initial adoption, barriers to usage vary more by country than by gender, encompassing issues such as safety and security concerns, affordability and connectivity experience.