Indians are one of the largest users of smartphones in the world but they lag behind other countries when it comes to internet usage. According to a new study, even after having the second largest number of smartphone users in the world, only a quarter of Indians actually use the internet which is among the lowest in the world.

The internet penetration in the second most populous country is only 25 percent in 2017, said the data published by Pew Research Center. The data showed that in the last five years India has seen only 56 percent rise in the internet users. In 2013, it was 16 percent, while there was 83 percent rise in smartphone users in this period.

According to the report, 22 percent respondents owned a smartphone in 2017, compared to 12 percent in 2013, pointing towards 83 percent increase in smartphone ownership.

The same data also revealed a 150 percent rise in social media usage. Around 20 percent of the population accessed social media in 2017 compared to 8 percent in 2013.

The revelations are surprising given the revolutionary changes that took place in country’s telecom sector during the period. From 2013 to 2015, the data cost was higher but after the introduction of Jio in 2016 and the price war that followed had made data cheaper in the country.

India tops the internet censoring rankings

It is not only in the field of accessibility that the country is lagging behind. According to various studies and reports, India has the highest number of ‘internet shutdowns’ in the world. India experienced 154 internet shutdowns, i.e. intentional disruption of internet or mobile apps usually by the government between January 2016 and May 2018, a reports Statista said.

According to The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), intentional internet downtime between 2012 and 2017 lasted 16,315 hours and it cost the Indian economy $304 crore.

The revelation is not surprising given the number of instances where social media was used to spread fake news across the country, ultimately prompting the government to put stricter control over social media.

Disclosure: RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.