Despite the development of information technology, the number of internet users in Bangladesh has not increased much.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) survey, there are 38.9% internet users in the country.
It is also known from the survey of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and ICT Department that currently 89.9% of individuals use mobile phones, of which 30.9% use smartphones. The use of mobile phones at the household level is 52.2%.
At the individual level, among 7.4% of computer users, 63.1% of them are not interested in using the internet. 61.8% of them have their own mobile while only 1.4% know programming or coding.
The result was prepared based on BBS conducting survey on 30,816 houses and 1,12,600 people.
In the last 10 years in the use of ICT, mobile phone use has increased by 8.2% while computer use has increased by only 1.8%.
According to the survey data, women are more likely than men to use mobile and internet at least once a day. Besides, the people of the city are ahead in mobile and internet usage. However, there is not much difference between cities and villages in mobile usage. The rate of internet usage at home is high.
According to the BBS survey, 41% of smartphone users are between the ages of 15 and 64. According to the SDGs, 86.2% of people can copy-paste and use digital content and information in terms of ICT skills. 83.4% of people can send messages. Human skills in programming and coding lag far behind.
The survey further pointed out that 64% of rural and 58% of urban people do not feel the need to use the internet. 48.2% people find internet expensive and 35% of the people consider internet usage tools expensive.
In the most backward northern region of Rajshahi division, 19.7% of households use internet and 32% use smartphones. In Rangpur 34.8% people use mobile phones. Dhaka is the most advanced in the use of computers, internet, mobile and smartphones. And Barisal is lagging behind in computer usage with only 4%. However, no information is known about Bangladesh's position compared to other SAARC countries.
