Over 553 million people around the world have Internet access, says the latest study from U.S. based Nielsen-Netratings. These latest figures represent a four per cent increase from the 531 million counted during the first quarter of the year.

Americans lead the way with 166.4 million users, or 30 per cent of the worldwide population. European nations followed making up 24 per cent of users, with Germany (32.6 million), the United Kingdom (29 million), and Italy (22.7 million) ranking among the highest users.

Canadian Internet usage is also on the rise says Statistics Canada. The latest reports show that seven out of 10 households are online at least once a day from home. In total that’s 5.8 million, or 49 per cent of all households. Alberta and British Columbia are ahead of the country with 65 per cent of residents online.

By contrast, Asia-Pacific and Latin America trailed behind at 14 per cent and three per cent respectively. The remaining geographic regions make up 29 per cent of all Internet users.

While their continent may trail in over all usage Hong Kong leads the world in high-speed connections. Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain are also included in the top rankings for this category.

The study can be found online at www.nielsen-netratings.com. Canadian statistics can be found at www.statcan.ca.

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