Gender Gap in Mobile Internet Usage Narrows

The Global System of Mobile Communications Association’s (GSMA) recent Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024 revealed that in 2023, the gender gap in mobile Internet use narrowed for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, marking a significant development in the race for digital equity. According to the study, women are adopting mobile Internet at a faster rate than men in low- and middle-income countries. However, significant structural challenges remain that require a concerted multi-stakeholder response to ensure true equity in access to and use of digital technologies.

According to GSMA, the COVID-19 pandemic increased gender inequalities in mobile Internet access, increasing the gender gap from 15% in 2020 to 18% in 2021 and 19% in 2022. In this context, the reduction of this gap in 2023 represents a partial recovery of pre-pandemic gains. However, the persistence of a 15% inequality reflects that, despite progress, there is still a problem in ensuring digital inclusion between genders, an aspect pointed out by several institutions as a barrier to "individual and collective progress."

GSMA's Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024 emphasizes that 785 million women worldwide are still not connected to the Internet, with 60% of them located in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. "Despite progress, women continue to face significant barriers to their full integration into the digital world," the report reads. 

The report highlights that the rate of mobile Internet adoption by women in low- and middle-income countries has increased, reaching 66% (1.5 billion), while 78% of men use mobile Internet, showing improvement for the first time since 2020. However, women in these countries are still 15% less likely than men to use mobile Internet, representing approximately 265 million fewer female users.

Despite the improvement in smartphone ownership, with the gender gap in smartphone adoption narrowing from 15% to 13%, around 200 million fewer women than men own a smartphone. Regarding mobile devices, rates remain stable since 2017, with women 8% less likely to own these devices than men, with a total of 405 million women still without one. 

While mobile Internet awareness is high and nearly equal among men and women, the report notes, key barriers to mobile Internet adoption include lack of access to services and devices, lack of digital skills, and structural and regulatory inequalities that disproportionately affect women. GSMA stresses the need for concerted action by governments, businesses, civil society organizations and academia to close the gender gap in mobile connectivity. The organization stresses that it is not enough to provide access, but it is also necessary to ensure that women can use the Internet on a regular basis and for a wide range of activities that meet their needs. 

"The mobile gender gap not only reflects existing gender inequalities, but also threatens to exacerbate them," the report reads. "Only through concerted action and collaboration of different stakeholders in this area will it truly accelerate."

Countries like Mexico and Guatemala already show advances, with Internet access and mobile device ownership rates showing a minimal gender gap, with differences of only 1% to 3% between men and women, according to DPL. The persistence of a 15% gender gap in mobile Internet use in other regions has profound implications for socioeconomic development. Lack of equitable access to digital technology not only perpetuates existing inequalities, but also threatens to widen them in a world increasingly dependent on digital connectivity, the GSM report notes, as women who do not have access to mobile Internet face significant disadvantages in terms of education, employment and access to essential services.

As we move forward, it is crucial to implement policies that address the various barriers women face. According to the report, this includes improving the affordability of services and devices, developing digital skills training programs, and promoting changes in social norms that limit women's participation in the digital sphere.