KSA Internet Usage Rate 99%; 98.9% Used Via Mobile Phones

The “Saudi Internet Report 2023” released by the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) indicated that internet usage in the Kingdom has increased and reached 99% of users. Domain use was distributed almost equally among both genders, with 99.3% of males and 98.5% of females using internet services.

The report reviewed user patterns and behaviour whilst using the internet. It stated that 52.3% of internet users in the Kingdom spend seven hours or more per day using the internet, 84.7% use it from home, 72% while on the move, and 43% at work sites.

The report revealed peak usage times are from 9 pm to 11 pm while Friday is the peak day of the week for users. December also witnessed peak usage during the year in the Kingdom.

The mobile phone was the most used device for browsing the internet at a rate of 98.9%, followed by computers at a rate of 55%, then tablet devices at a rate of 39%. Other devices, such as smartwatches, gaming consoles, and Kindles, accounted for 29.9%. The usage of operating systems for mobile devices reached 61.5% for Android and 38.1% for iOS. The usage of computer operating systems for Windows reached 91.1%, and Mac at 7%.

The report also revealed the most visited websites in the Kingdom and the percentage of browsers and mobile internet packages used, showing that 95.5% of users accessed government services and 73.6% accessed banking services from their devices.

The report showed that 63.7% of internet users in the Kingdom purchased online products or services, with 55.7% of males and 74.6% of females making online purchases. The report also included monitoring the most widely used social media applications, voice and video calling applications, and cloud storage services, with a usage rate of 71.4%.

In relation to the impact on the Kingdom’s infrastructure in achieving the spread of the internet, the report confirmed the growth and spread of Internet of Things technology, had reached more than 12 million subscriptions. The volume of internet data traffic in the Kingdom also grew to more than 42 million terabytes, with an average consumption of 44 GB per month for mobile internet data per capita.

The report indicated that the Kingdom is among the top ten countries that use the sixth version of the Internet protocol, with an adoption rate of 61%. It also drew attention to the growth of Saudi domain names to 57,000 domains in 2023.