The line graph compares the proportion of households which can access the internet in four different countries – Canada, Brazil, Japan, and Nigeria – over a period of 15 years, spanning from 2005 to 2020.
Overall, household internet access rose in all four countries, albeit to varying extents, with Brazil’s rise proving the most pronounced. While Canada and Japan consistently recorded the highest proportions, Brazil and Nigeria trailed considerably behind, the latter having the lowest level of internet access throughout.
Of the four countries, Japan and Canada started with higher figures than the other two. Japan was clearly ahead of Canada by 10 percentage points at the outset – 70% and 60%, respectively. However, this gap narrowed steadily, and in 2012, Canada and Japan ultimately reached a parity at roughly 81%. Following this crossover point, the trend reversed, with Canada taking the lead this time. Canada concluded the timeframe with an all-time high of 95% whereas Japan finished at a close distance, 89%.
Brazil and Nigeria, by contrast, had strikingly low levels of internet access at the beginning of the period, at 12% and a negligible 2% respectively. Brazil’s figure, however, climbed rapidly, reaching 35% by 2010 and around 76% by 2020, the most pronounced rise of all four countries. A similar, yet less dramatic, trajectory characterised Nigeria, whose figure edged up to just 8% by 2010 before accelerating sharply to finish at 45%, more than twenty times its starting level.