ISLAMABAD: In 2023, Pakistan’s economy incurred losses exceeding Rs65 billion due to internet shutdowns. Internet shutdowns in 2023 resulted in a total loss of $237.6 million to Pakistan’s economy and impacted nearly 83 million Pakistanis.
According to Statista’s latest data, the total shutdown duration amounted to 259 hours. Interestingly, Pakistan ranks 7th among the countries most affected by internet shutdowns in terms of monetary loss over the past year. Statista, a German online platform specializing in data gathering and visualization, provided this information.
In addition to publicly available third-party data, Statista also offers exclusive data on its platform, collected through its team’s surveys and analysis.
India remains at the top of the list for the longest internet shutdown durations in 2023. India blocked internet access for over 470 billion user hours (shutdown times the number of affected users). According to Statista, India ranks fourth among the most affected countries due to internet shutdowns.
Russia remains at the top as the most affected country in monetary terms due to internet shutdowns.
Cyberspace was blocked for more than 1,350 hours, resulting in a loss of over $4 billion to the Russian economy and affecting 113 million internet users in the country in 2023, according to the data. India ranks fourth on this list, with a total loss exceeding Rs161 billion and impacting over 59 million people.
“In India, the country with the highest number of internet shutdowns, these disruptions have historically occurred in Kashmir and Rajasthan, often during protests (and preemptively when protests were anticipated) as well as during exams.”
“In 2023, ethnic tensions in Manipur state led to the most targeted shutdowns imposed by the government,” states the Statista official website.
The blocking includes throttling, full blackouts, and partial blocks (such as specific social media); Ethiopia is the second most affected country by internet shutdowns, with a loss of nearly $1.6 billion.
Iran ranked fourth, with a loss of nearly $1 billion due to internet shutdowns in 2023. Turkey, also on this list, experienced an economic loss of $5.8 million from internet shutdowns, which affected more than 70 million internet users in the country.
The complete list of the 25 countries with the most internet shutdowns, from top to bottom, is as follows: Russia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Iran, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Algeria, Senegal, Azerbaijan, Guinea, Brazil, Mauritania, Yemen, Venezuela, Kenya, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Gabon, Tanzania, Cuba, Chad, Zimbabwe, and Suriname at the bottom of the list.
Myanmar ranks second and Ethiopia third among the countries with the longest internet shutdown durations in 2023. Iran is fourth, and Russia is fifth, respectively.
