New research from Techopedia reveals the countries where VPNs were searched for the most in 2023, with three African countries featuring – Ethiopia (#2), Senegal (#9), and Uganda (#10).
Analysing Google Trends data from 2022/23 on the #InternetShutdown, two of the three African nations – Ethiopia and Senegal – were the only new entries on the list with scores of 99/100 and 35/100.
Adding to this, Senegal’s 2023 purchasing demand for VPNs has reportedly increased by a massive 60,000%, and Ethiopia’s by 3651%.
Key insights on the findings:
- Searches across the top 10 countries increased an average of 97% from 2022– with not a single decrease showing that internet freedom is getting worse globally.
- Ethiopia was the highest new entry at #2with a VPN search score of 99 out of 100 due to the civil unrest that took place, with the government blocking access to social media in February 2023.
- African nations Senegal and Uganda feature in #9 and #10, respectively, due to their government’s continued efforts to censor critical speech.
- Turkmenistan was #1 across 2022-2023– with a max search score of 100 for both years – even though VPNs are technically considered illegal there.
- Afghanistan had the largest YoY increase of 156%, due to the Taliban’s continued efforts to censor Afghani’s internet.
The search and use of VPNs often indicates the need for citizens to bypass oppressive internet censorship (#InternetShutdown) imposed by their governments.
To understand more behind the results and rises, Techopedia looked at the political and cultural events that occurred in each country across 2023 and how they affected online activity.
Here’s a table breakdown of the research:
For additional context, the report also looks at the key insights of VPN users in general including VPN work vs. daily use, demographic data, and usage reasons. An infographic of this research (featured in the report) is open for use and can be accessed on this Google Drive.
Nick Francis, Editor of Techopedia, had this to comment on the research:
“Many of the countries featured come as no surprise considering their well-known restrictions towards online freedoms. The new entries and largest rises give an insightful look into how more current governments are quickly restricting internet access for their citizens as soon as civil unrest unfolds. It’s troubling, but not surprising.
It’ll be interesting to follow these search trends going forwards and see how it correlates with further developments in each country.”
