KARACHI: Pakistan has the lowest rate internet users, and it has not helped its attitude towards internet and the effect it has on its society, education and politics, a survey by the PEW research center found.
According to the Pew Global Attitudes 2014 survey released on Thursday, just eight per cent of Pakistanis said they had access to internet, the worst response to the survey of 32 emerging and developing nations, just ahead of Bangladesh (11%) and Uganda (15%). But it was encouraging that 12% of the people said they had a working computer at their home.
This was higher than the likes of India 11%, Nigeria 10%, Tanzania 9% and Bangladesh 8% with Uganda bottom 3% and a median of 38%.
Official government figures however put internet penetration at over 30 million or nearly 16% of the population. According to the PTA, there are over 12.4 million broadband connections alone, or nearly seven per cent of the country’s population.