South Africa Website and Internet Statistics (2026)

This page collects the South African internet and web figures we use when we plan websites for clients. We only include a number if we could read it on the source's own page, and we quote it the way the source states it, with the period it refers to. Where sources disagree or measure different things, we say so.

Internet use

The two internet figures measure different things. DataReportal counts individual people (79.6 percent), while Stats SA's General Household Survey counts households with access to the internet (82,1% in 2024). Only 17,4% of households had a fixed-line connection at home in 2024, so most South Africans get online through mobile data.

What this means for your website

Roughly one in five South Africans is still offline, so a website will not reach everyone, and phone and WhatsApp contact still matter. For the people who are online, many are paying for mobile data rather than using an uncapped line at home. Keep pages light: compressed images, no heavy video on the homepage, and nothing that downloads megabytes before the visitor sees your offer. Our guide to why a South African business needs a website covers the bigger picture.

Mobile vs desktop

The 196 percent connection figure counts SIM cards and other cellular connections, not people. One person can have more than one SIM, which is why the number is higher than the population.

What this means for your website

With more than three quarters of page views coming from phones, design and test on a phone first. Check that text is readable without zooming, buttons are big enough to tap, forms are short and your phone number and WhatsApp link work with one tap. Most of those phones run Android, so test on at least one Android phone, not only an iPhone. Our free website health check flags common speed and mobile problems.

Browsers

What this means for your website

Chrome leads, but Safari and Samsung Internet together account for a meaningful share of visits. Check your site in Chrome, Safari (on an iPhone) and Samsung Internet (on a Samsung phone) before launch. Forms, date pickers and sticky headers are common trouble spots.

Search engines

What this means for your website

For most South African businesses, being found on search means being found on Google. Set up a Google Business Profile, make sure Google can crawl and index your pages, and write pages that answer what your customers search for. Bing still sends some visits, so it is worth verifying your site in Bing Webmaster Tools too. Our local SEO guide for South Africa explains where to start.

Social media

DataReportal stresses that social media "user identities" may not be unique people: one person can have accounts on several platforms.

What this means for your website

Social media reaches a large audience, but you do not own those profiles and their rules change. Use social posts to send people to your website, where you control the content, the enquiry form and your contact details.

Domains

ZARC publishes these counts as live charts on its homepage. The registry count covers every second-level domain ZARC runs (.co.za, .org.za, .net.za and .web.za), so it is not a .co.za-only figure. A registered domain is not always a working website: many are parked, redirected or used only for email.

What this means for your website

A .co.za address tells visitors you are a South African business. Register the name you want before someone else does, and renew it on time. You can register a .co.za domain with us or look up common terms in our web design and hosting glossary.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page was read on the source's own page on 5 Nov 2026. We copy numbers exactly as the source states them, including its decimal style (Stats SA uses a decimal comma, for example 82,1%), and we do not round in a way that changes the meaning. Statcounter figures are for the latest full month available when we checked.

• Digital 2026: South Africa, DataReportal (Kepios), published 8 November 2025. Combines data from the UN (population), GSMA Intelligence (mobile connections), Ookla (connection speeds) and social platforms' own advertising tools. Kepios says internet user figures may under-represent actual use. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
• General Household Survey 2024, media statement, Statistics South Africa, 27 May 2025 (published on gov.za). A household survey: figures describe households, not individual people. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
• Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet Market Share South Africa, Statcounter Global Stats. Share of page views on the websites that use Statcounter's tracking code, not a count of people or devices. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
• Mobile Operating System Market Share South Africa, Statcounter Global Stats. Share of mobile page views on websites that use Statcounter. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
• Browser Market Share South Africa, Statcounter Global Stats. All platforms (desktop, mobile and tablet combined). Checked 5 Nov 2026.
• Search Engine Market Share South Africa, Statcounter Global Stats. Based on visits referred by search engines to websites that use Statcounter. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
• Registry statistics (SRS domain count and domain movement charts), ZA Registry Consortium (ZARC). ZARC is the registry operator for .co.za, .org.za, .net.za and .web.za. The count covers its registry as a whole, not .co.za alone. Checked 5 Nov 2026.

We update this page when a source publishes a new edition or a new month of data, and we change the date at the top only when the figures change. If you spot a figure that has moved on, email info@webdesignhostingsa.co.za. Our editorial policy explains how we check facts.

Figures we left out

• The share of South African small businesses with a website. There is no reliable public figure for this, so we do not quote one.
• A .co.za-only domain count. ZARC's live chart covers all the domains in its registry, so we quote that instead of an older .co.za figure.
• Stats SA's newer household survey results. Stats SA's own publication pages could not be opened when we checked, so we quote the 2024 survey from Stats SA's media statement on gov.za. We will add the newer figures once we can read them on the source.
• ICASA's State of the ICT Sector report. We have not quoted it because we could not read the figures in the report itself when we checked.

Planning a site with these numbers in mind? See how we approach web design for South African businesses.