Nielsen Media Report for 2023

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INDIA INTERNET REPORT
2023 RELEASE

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India is poised for robust growth as digital penetration shows healthy
double-digit growth of 28%.
● Nearly half of Rural India is on the Internet, with a 40% growth.
● Online banking and digital payments show strong growth at 43%.
Our study reveals that India has 700+ million active Internet users aged 2 years and
above as of December 2022. Rural India registered a presence of 425 million
internet users, which is almost 44% higher than in urban. The study also revealed
nearly half of the rural population is still not actively using the internet, paving
headroom for further growth. Urban India on the other hand has registered a 14%
penetration growth with 295 million active internet users.
Key findings amongst 12 years and above
● In Urban, the lowest pop strata of Below 1 Lakh towns see the highest growth
rate of 20%, and Rural are the highest growth drivers from a pop strata
standpoint
● Nearly 90% of internet users, are daily users. The Urban and Rural gap has
been further narrowed compared to last year, with 93% and 86% daily users
now, respectively
● A little more than 1/3rd of Indians own a smartphone, with 450+ million
smartphone users in the country
● There are 450+ million monthly Video watchers in India. Video watching and
Video Calling (both 44% incidence) are the top 2 online activities amongst the
12+ years old
● Online banking and digital payments see a whopping 43% growth and yet
have a huge headroom to grow.
● Another category with huge headroom to grow is Digital News. Nearly 1 out of
5 Indian watches Digital News now, which has seen a 20% growth over last
year.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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INTERNET SIZE AND PENETRATION
India has 720 Mn active Internet users who
are 2 years & above as of December 2022.
Rural India which is 44% more than urban,
has 425 Mn active internet users.
There is immense headroom in rural for
growth with more than half the population in
Rural still to be tapped
Growth In Active Internet Users Aged 12+ yrs.
1
Compared to 2021, active
internet user base has
grown more than 20% to
reach
595 Mn
2
Users in urban grew by
10% whereas growth in
rural outshined urban
with a growth of 30%
3
Female users grew by
27% whereas male users
grew by around 18%
FREQUENCY OF ACCESSING INTERNET
Frequency India Urban Rural
Age in Years
12 to 15 16 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50+
Everyday 89% 93% 86% 92% 91% 91% 89% 89% 86%
~90% active internet users aged 12 years and above access internet on a daily basis.
50 years and above users too are active and are not left behind with 86% accessing it
daily.
2019 Data from IRS
OVERALL

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VIDEO WATCHING, VIDEO CALLING & SOCIAL
NETWORKING ARE THE TOP ACTIVITIES
Cheap data and smartphone availability has democratized video
watching.
Activities done in Last 1 Month
Watching/Downloading movies/ videos
Video Calling
Social Networking
Chatting or Sending messages
Listening to online Music
Searching Online
Reading or watching news
Online Banking and Digital Payments
Online Purchase of items like clothes, shoes etc.
Sending and receiving Emails
Playing online games
ACTIVITIES
Base: Internet 12+ users

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Age
All Internet
Users
Online Banking/
Digital
Transaction
12 to 15
16 to 19
20 to 29
30 to 39
40 to 49
50+
● The Online Banking/ Digital Payment has 165 Mn active users (Last 1
month), with a penetration of 16%. One of the fastest growing category
with 44% growth rate
● The Audiences are skewed towards Urban, Male and amongst 20-39
years old
ONLINE BANKING & DIGITAL PAYMENT REMAINS SKEWED
TOWARDS URBAN AND MALE
DIGITAL PAYMENT
Base: Internet 12+ users

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NEARLY 3 OUT OF 5, NCCS AB 40+ YEARS OLD MALES IN
NORTH INDIA READ OR WATCH DIGITAL NEWS
% of Internet users reading or watching digital News
All India Male X North Male X North X 40+
years
Male X North X 40+ years X
NCCS AB
● Digital news is another category with high promise, showing a 20% growth rate
over last year.
● Certain cohorts have high userships than others
DIGITAL NEWS
Base: Internet 12+ users

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YOUTH DRIVING ONLINE ACTIVITIES; CUTS ACROSS
URBAN & RURAL
● Entertainment and E-Commerce both highest amongst Youth. Trend similar across
Urban and Rural India
● Early Teens much ahead on playing online games. Not much behind on video
watching and online music compared to Youth
Activities done in last 1 month 12-15 Yrs 16-29 Yrs
Early Teens Young Adults
Watching/Downloading movies/ videos
Video Calling -
Social Networking
Chatting or Sending messages
Listening to online Music
Searching Online
Reading or watching news
Online Banking and Digital Payments
Online Purchase of items like clothes, shoes, etc.
Sending and receiving Emails
Playing online games
YOUTH
Base: Internet 12+ users

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3 OUT OF 5, YOUNG AFFLUENT AUDIENCE IN 5 LAKHS +
TOWNS LISTENS TO MUSIC ONLINE
● Amongst the fastest growing internet activities, Listening to Online Music grew by
33% over last year
● Though there is a gender skew, when it comes to Population strata, similar
usership is seen amongst internet users.
ONLINE MUSIC
Base: Internet 12+ users
All Internet
Users
NCCS A,
16-39
Years, 5 L+
towns
Listening to
Online Music
Young Affluent defined by NCCS A, 16-39 years

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Deep dive on penetration by age groups, gender, NCCS, state/state group etc. will be
available with category level reports for Rural India
RURAL SPECIFIC DEEP DIVE REPORTS
Chatting & Messaging Online Grocery Online Food ordering
Social Networking Video Calling Video Watching
Online Music Online Shopping
Online Banking and Digital
Payments
Online Investments Online News Online Gaming
Reporting Cuts for Rural India
• All India (Age, Gender, NCCS)
• Zone (Age, Gender, NCCS)
• State/ State Groups
• State/ State Groups X Age
• State/ State Groups X Gender

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About Nielsen
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and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and
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their audiences—now and into the future.
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Audience Is Everything®

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