Internet penetration history · BRB

Barbados internet penetration over time

Name: Barbados internet use history
Creator: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The latest verified observation is 70.4% in 2024. The available series begins at 0% in 1990, a net change of 70.4 percentage points.

31 VERIFIED OBSERVATIONS · ITU VIA WDI

Quick answers

LATEST

70.4%

Internet penetration in Barbados in 2024, the latest available observation in this series.

LONG-TERM CHANGE

+70.4 pp

Change between the first available observation in 1990 and the latest in 2024.

RECENT CONTEXT

+0.1 pp

From 2019 to 2024, the observed rate changed by 0.1 percentage points, from 70.3% to 70.4%.

The first observation at or above 50% is 2005 (52.5%). The available observations never reach 75%.

Historical trend

Each point is an official observation returned by World Bank WDI for IT.NET.USER.ZS. Lines connect observed points for readability; they do not create data for missing years.

Year-by-year internet penetration

Individuals using the Internet (% of population) — Barbados
Year	Internet users
2024	70.4%
2023	69.7%
2022	69.1%
2021	69.5%
2020	69.9%
2019	70.3%
2018	70.7%
2017	71.1%
2016	71.6%
2015	72%
2014	71.9%
2013	71.8%
2012	71.2%
2011	66.5%
2010	65.1%
2009	64.7%
2008	61.4%
2007	58.2%
2006	55.3%
2005	52.5%
2004	49.8%
2003	39.7%
2002	27.8%
2001	11.9%
2000	4%
1999	2.4%
1998	2%
1997	0.8%
1996	0.4%
1995	0%
1990	0%

Download historical JSON → · Download historical CSV → · Compare countries →

What this measure means

On World Discovery, “internet penetration rate” and “internet users” both refer to the share of individuals who used the internet, matching World Development Indicators code IT.NET.USER.ZS. It is a population-use measure; it is not the same as fixed-broadband subscriptions, mobile subscriptions, connection speed or household access.

Compare internet users by country and year → · Explore the 2024 internet-use ranking →

Internet penetration here means individuals using the internet (% of population). It is reported as % of population. The indicator definition is: Individuals who have used the Internet from any location in the last 3 months.

This series is useful for questions such as “How has internet access changed in Barbados?” and “What is Barbados’s latest internet penetration rate?” It does not estimate people missing from the official observations.

Compare Barbados with similar regional rates

These Latin America & Caribbean countries have the closest latest observed internet-penetration rates in the same verified history dataset. The links are based on data proximity, not a claim of social or economic similarity.

CUB

Cuba

70.5% in 2024. Compare its verified historical internet-penetration series with Barbados.

GRD

Grenada

70.2% in 2024. Compare its verified historical internet-penetration series with Barbados.

LCA

St. Lucia

68.2% in 2024. Compare its verified historical internet-penetration series with Barbados.

ATG

Antigua and Barbuda

72.7% in 2024. Compare its verified historical internet-penetration series with Barbados.

Explore the regional comparison →

Barbados in Latin America & Caribbean

Among the 32 countries from Latin America & Caribbean present in this verified 2024 dataset, Barbados ranks 25th. Its 70.4% observation is 9.2 percentage points below the regional median of 79.5%. This comparison only describes countries present in this same-year dataset.

Closest same-region observations: Cuba (70.5%) · Grenada (70.2%) · St. Lucia (68.2%).

Source and methodology

Indicator: IT.NET.USER.ZS — Individuals using the Internet (% of population).

Source: International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, surfaced through World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI), Indicators API v2. License: CC BY-4.0.

Values are kept at their official observation years. Missing years are not backfilled, averaged or interpolated. This page is a historical observation series, not a revision comparison.

World Bank API source → · Indicator metadata →

Keep exploring

Countries to compare with Barbados

Move through the 2024 ranking or compare Barbados with nearby values in Latin America & Caribbean .

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