Statistics

People

RtF's solutions are designed to help people who face barriers due to aging, disabilities, or low literacy. These groups tend to overlap, so it's difficult to determine exactly how many people we can affect. We estimate that there are at least 1 billion people in this group, and it may be closer to 2 billion. Here's a breakdown:

Aging

  • 500 Million people (7% of the world's population) are over the age of 65 (1)
  • 35 Million people are over the age of 85 (1)
  • 15% of the world's population is expected to be over 65 by 2050 (1)

Disabilities

  • 10-15% of the world's population have disabilities. That's at least 600 million people, and likely more than 1 billion. (2)
  • Aging and disability are linked. 52.6% of people over age 75 have disabilities. (2)

Illiteracy

  • Over 1 billion people (16% of the world's population) cannot read. (3)

More information / Sources

  1. Why Population Aging Matters
  2. Disability Statistics Resource
  3. UNESCO's Regional Literacy Statistics

Internet Access

Since our Initiative is based around making it easier to use the Internet, we're also interested in overall Internet availability and usage. Statistics show that people in developing countries are using the Internet from mobile phones and public access centers more often than from personal computers. These up-and-coming platforms will be a focus for future accessibility developments.

Internet Usage

  • 23.5% of the world's population has Internet access right now (that's about 1.5 billion people) . This number has more than tripled since 2000, and is expected to continue its rapid increase. (4)

Mobile Phones

  • There are more than 4 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide. Many of these phones also have access to Internet resources. (5)

Public Internet Access Centers

  • Many users access the Internet through public internet access centers, such as internet cafes, schools, and libraries. The availability of these centers differs greatly by region, but in some areas they are very popular.
  • For example, developing nations in Asia have public access in 99% of municipalities and even the least developed nations in Africa have public access in 11% of municipalities. (5)

More information / Sources

  1. World Internet Usage Statistics
  2. Global Information Society: a Statistical View

 

More Information

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