Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran ranks 17 among the major 20 states with the highest numbers of Internet users, the Iranian minister of Communications and Information Technology said.
According to a report by the ministry’s Public Relations Department, the number of Iranian Internet users currently stand at 23 million.
Internet penetration quotient in Iran has reached 34.9 percent while the average global figure is 21.9 percent.
The minister was further quoted by IRNA as saying that International Internet Center has put the Internet penetration quotient in the Middle East at 21.3 percent, indicating that three percent of the total Internet users in the world are in the region.
Some 1.6 percent of the total international users are Iranians, he said, adding that Iran holds 50 percent of the users in the Mideast.
A penetration quotient of 30 percent will be achieved by 2009, he said, adding that given the efforts taken in the field, the target will be achieved one year earlier than the final year of the Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan in 2010.
