(FOLHAPRESS) - Brazil had 17.7 million people aged ten or over who did not use the internet in a three-month period in 2025, in addition to 19.1 million inhabitants of the same age group without a cell phone last year.
The contingents are the smallest in a historical series that began in 2016, according to data released this Thursday (2) by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
The information is part of the Continuous Pnad (Continuous National Household Sample Survey), which indicates advances in the network and mobile phones over the last decade.
The 17.7 million people who did not use the internet in the three months prior to the research interviews correspond to 9.5% of the population aged ten or over in Brazil (186.4 million). The 19.1 million without a cell phone for personal use represent 10.2% of the total.
These are contingents that, even at a low level, exceed the entire population of the state of Rio de Janeiro, estimated at 17.2 million last year. Rio is the third most populous unit of the Federation.
According to IBGE, 73.6% of people aged ten or over who did not use the internet had no education or only had incomplete primary education in 2025. This group with lower education also accounted for 81.5% of inhabitants without a cell phone.
Another detail provided by Pnad is age group. Elderly people aged 60 and over represented 51.5% (more than half) of the population aged ten and over disconnected from the internet. They also formed the main portion of the contingent without a cell phone (36.9%).
Children and teenagers aged 10 to 13 came next. They accounted for 10.3% of the population aged ten or over without access to the network and 27.4% of the population without a cell phone.
According to Pnad, the main reason for not accessing the internet in the country in 2025 was not knowing how to use it (44.9%). Among the elderly, this factor reaches an even higher level (66.5%).
Among children and adolescents aged 10 to 13, the main reasons were lack of need (33.8%) and concerns about privacy or security (30.3%).
The IBGE survey is household-based. This allows parents to respond on behalf of their minor children.
The main factor for not having a cell phone in the country was not knowing how to use it (31.1%). This justification reaches 61% among elderly people without the device. Among children and adolescents aged 10 to 13, concerns about privacy and security are what weigh the most (32%).
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