Internet 'close to three billion users', says UN

The internet is closing in on three billion users, according to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union 

  

The internet will have close to three billion users by the end of 2014, two thirds of which will be from the developing world, new research has found.

The United Nations International Telecommunications Union said the figures will equate to around 40 per cent of the world's population.

Around 90 per cent of those who are not yet using the internet hail from developing countries, the report found.

By the end of the year around one-fifth of the African population will have access to the internet; compared to nearly two-thirds of the population of the Americas.

Europe has the highest internet penetration rate of 75 per cent, while the Asia-Pacific region has the largest population of internet users.