Internet Penetration Rates of Countries by Geographical Regions Some Examples of Regional Digital Divides

There have been many studies of impact of per capita GDP and other income\wealth related variables on Internet penetration rates (IPP) of countries. However, these studies tend to treat the countries in their samples as one group be it a group selected from the entire world or a group selected from a region such as Sub Sahara Africa, Asia or Europe. This study will examine 193 countries as one group and then divide them into six regional groups and in some cases sub regions. The study finds that while correlation between per capita GDP and IPPP is very significant for 193 countries as a group they are less significant for the regions and not significant for some sub regions. The study also finds that belonging to one region as oppose to anther is often a more statistically significant predictor of IPP which has implications of regional digital divides attributable to social, cultural, and other factors.