Which country experienced the greatest growth in mobile Web usage last year?

Opera’s State of the Mobile Web showcases top 35 countries, highlights Middle East mobile Web usage

Oslo, Norway — February 25, 2009

Fast facts

In January 2009, consumer Opera Mini use jumped 12.1% over the previous month to 20 million unique users. Monthly page views increased even more, jumping 18% to 7.6 billion Web pages in the same time period. Data transfers were also up 18% from December 2008 as Opera Mini generated more than 122 million MB of data for operators worldwide. The full report is available from http://www.opera.com/smw/.
Data in Opera Mini is compressed 90% on average. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed more than 1.1 billion MB of data. This is the first month that Opera Mini servers have processed more than 1 petabyte of data for consumer Opera Mini users.
Armenia led all countries in Opera Mini growth from January 2008 to January 2009, with usage jumping more than 2800%. Nigeria was second, with 1854%. Other notable countries include: Egypt (1391%), Philippines (570%) and Kazakhstan (419%).
Armenia also led all of the top 35 countries in page views per user. Armenia users viewed on average 669 pages in January 2009.
The top 10 countries using Opera Mini in the Middle East are: Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon and Yemen.

Report findings

The month's report highlights the top 35 countries, ranked by number of Opera Mini users. The top countries varied widely in growth rates, with Indonesia surging to second place with a 312% Year-on-Year (YoY) growth.

Ukraine narrowly edged out Indonesia with users viewing, on average, 530 pages per month.

The top 10 countries for Opera Mini usage (ranked by # of unique users):

Rank	Country	YoY growth	Page views/user (January 2009)
1	Russia	156.9%	416
2	Indonesia	312.1%	507
3	Ukraine	124.2%	530
4	China	11.2%	216
5	India	166.7%	354
6	South Africa	93.5%	264
7	United States	73.0%	222
8	United Kingdom	63.4%	245
9	Poland	147.2%	178
10	Germany	51.8%	113

Even in the countries that began the year in the top 10, growth rates were still notable, particularly in developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. Only China had less than 50% YoY growth.

The State of the Mobile Web report also examines the Middle East. In many of the countries, Facebook brought people and friends together. It was one of the top 10 sites in 9 of the top 10 countries in the Middle East: Iran (#9), Israel (#1), Saudia Arabia (#10), Syria (#3), Jordan (#3), United Arab Emirates (#3), Oman (#9), Kuwait (#4) and Lebanon (#1). The report also contains data on top handsets and a complete list of top sites for the top 10 countries, ranked by the number of unique Opera Mini users.

Supporting quote

“Looking back on a full year of mobile Web growth, it is easy to see why mobile devices will become the primary device for Web usage in most of the world,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “Developing countries may lead the way due to the sheer prevalence of mobile devices versus PCs, but the solid growth rates in developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, show that the entire world is moving in this direction. These numbers underscore how critical it is that all Web-enabled devices come equipped with a quality Web browser.”

About Opera Software ASA

Opera Software ASA has redefined Web browsing for PCs, mobile phones and other networked devices. Opera's cross-platform Web browser technology is renowned for its performance, standards compliance and small size, while giving users a faster, safer and more dynamic online experience. Opera Software is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with offices around the world. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at http://www.opera.com/.

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