Active Home Internet Users by Country, December 2008
Of 10 worldwide countries, only America and Switzerland lost active Internet users in the last month of 2008, according to Nielsen Online.
The remaining eight countries increased their population of active Internet users by a minimum of half a percentage point. Italy, which was down by as much as 1.16 percent in November, went up by 3.6 percent. That equates to 611,461 new active home Internet users for December. Other countries with full percentage-point gains include the United Kingdom (4.93 percent), Japan (2.93 percent), Germany (1.61 percent), and Spain (1.42 percent).
Nielsen Online uses a sampling methodology applied worldwide, which allows for data aggregation on a regional and global basis. Active Internet users are derived from the number of users who have logged on in the previous 30 days.
| Worldwide Active Internet Home Users, December 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | November 2008 | December 2008 | Growth (%) | Difference |
| Australia | 11,519,124 | 11,576,309 | 0.50 | 57,186 |
| Brazil | 24,419,045 | 24,545,405 | 0.52 | 126.360 |
| France | 28,771,595 | 28,955,721 | 0.64 | 184,126 |
| Germany | 38,757,308 | 39,382,877 | 1.61 | 625,569 |
| Italy | 16,999,367 | 17,610,828 | 3.60 | 611,461 |
| Japan | 49,198,183 | 50,638,687 | 2.93 | 1,440,505 |
| Spain | 18,057,909 | 18,315,052 | 1.42 | 257,143 |
| Switzerland | 3,798,531 | 3,742,101 | -1.49 | -56,430 |
| U.K. | 28,374,245 | 29,772,512 | 4.93 | 1,398,267 |
| U.S. | 155,624,855 | 153,326,129 | -1.48 | -2,298,727 |
| Source: Nielsen Online, 2009 | ||||
