Only 23% of people in low-income countries used the internet in 2025, compared with 94% in high-income countries, according to the World Bank Group. Its new digital strategy targets the cost of devices and data as well as the availability of connections.
The figures accompany the bank’s first group-wide digital strategy, announced on October 20. More than 2 billion people were offline globally in 2025, the institution said.
For a small business, internet access can affect how it receives payments, finds customers and communicates with suppliers. Coverage on a map is only the starting point. A usable service also depends on the price of a phone, data, reliable power and the skills needed to use online tools.
Being within coverage is not the same as being connected
The World Bank says some people live where a network is available but remain offline because devices or data are unaffordable, they lack digital skills, or services do not meet their needs.
A retailer might have a mobile signal and still struggle to use online inventory tools if the connection is unreliable or data costs take too much of a day’s sales. A customer may face the same problem when trying to place an order or make a digital payment.
In a separate account of connectivity programs, the bank identified device prices and limited digital literacy as barriers for some small businesses in Malawi. That example does not establish the size of the barrier in every country.
Our earlier report on electronic payments and small-business credit described one possible benefit of digital transactions. Payment fees, data access and privacy protections also matter for businesses deciding whether to use them.
Four priorities for the strategy
The bank says it will work on connectivity, device and data affordability, digital services and skills, and the foundations for artificial intelligence. Proposed measures include shared infrastructure, competition, financing and guarantees to attract investment in underserved markets.
Guarantees can reduce a lender’s or investor’s exposure to specified losses. They do not themselves build a network or establish that every proposed project will attract private funding.
The strategy also refers to digital identification, payments and secure information sharing. Those systems can make services easier to use, but the bank says privacy, cybersecurity and fraud protections must accompany them.
Its separate AI Infrastructure and Readiness Initiative proposes shared, pay-as-you-go computing capacity, initially focusing on Africa and Latin America. The announcement describes an initiative, not a completed network of data centers or a guarantee of lower prices for every user.
Jobs depend on more than a connection
The World Bank estimates that 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will reach working age over the next 10 to 15 years, while their economies are projected to create about 420 million jobs. These are broad projections, not an estimate of jobs the digital strategy will create.
Technology can give firms access to customers and services, but businesses still need affordable electricity, transport, finance and demand. The bank’s plan will ultimately depend on country-level investment and whether people can afford and use the services that become available.
