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China surpasses U.S. in online users for the first time

February 04, 2009 | Internet Marketing

The number of people worldwide going online has passed one billion for the first time in January, according to comScore. And almost 180 million internet users-over one in six of the world's online population-live in China, more than any other country.

Until a few months ago, the United States had most web users, but with 163 million people online, or over half of its total population, it has reached saturation point. More populous countries such as China, Brazil and India have many more potential users and will eventually overtake those western countries with already high penetration rates.

The more populous counties’ increasing internet use is expected to drive growth for local online companies like Chinese online gaming company Shanda Interactive, online media company Sina,com, Chinese online travel agency Ctrip, web portal Sohu.com, the Google of China, Baidu, and China Finance Online.

The other countries with high internet use include Japan with 160 million online users, Germany and Britain with around 37 million Internet users each, and France, with 34 million. India follows with 32 million, Russia with 29 million and Brazil with 27 million users.

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