New Delhi: With data costs falling by 95 per cent since 2013, India will see internet users rise by about 40 per cent and number of smartphones to double by 2023, McKinsey has said in a report. It also expects the core digital sectors to jump two-fold to USD 355-435 billion by 2025.
The report ‘Digital India – Technology to Transform a Connection Nation’ by McKinsey Global Institute said the country is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for digital consumers, with 560 million internet subscribers in 2018, second only to China.
Indian mobile data users consume 8.3 gigabits (GB) of data each month on average, compared with 5.5 GB for mobile users in China and 8-8.5 GB in advanced digital economy of South Korea. Indians have 1.2 billion mobile phone subscriptions and downloaded more apps – 12.3 billion in 2018 – than residents of any other country except China.
“Our analysis of 17 mature and emerging economies finds India is digitising faster than any other country in the study, save Indonesia – and there is plenty of room to grow: just over 40 per cent of the populace has an internet subscription till now,” the report said.
While a government push has helped digitise the economy, private sector firms such as Reliance Jio has helped bring down data costs by more than 95 per cent since 2013, the report said, adding the cost of one gigabyte fell from 9.8 per cent of per capita monthly GDP in 2013 (roughly USD 12.45) to 0.37 per cent in 2017 (the equivalent of a few cents).
As a result, monthly mobile data consumption per user is growing at 152 per cent annually – more than twice the rates in the United States and China. Average fixed-line download speed quadrupled between 2014 and 2017.
“India will increase the number of internet users by about 40 per cent to between 750 million and 800 million and double the number of smartphones to between 650 million and 700 million by 2023,” the report informed. It also added that the potential for India’s internet subscriber base could reach 835 million by 2023.
The report also said that average Indian social media user spends 17 hours on the platforms each week, more than social media users in China and the United States.
“By many measures, India is on its way to becoming a digitally advanced nation,” McKinsey said. “Just over 40 per cent of the populace has an internet subscription, but India is already home to one of the world’s largest and most rapidly growing bases of digital consumers. It is digitising activities at a faster pace than many mature and emerging economies.”
