The latest Cybernews study examines the download numbers of VPN applications and compares them to the populations of each of the 106 analyzed countries to determine the per capita usage and identify where VPNs are most popular.
Perhaps to little surprise, VPNs are most used in countries with strict internet restrictions, particularly in Arab countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
In these countries, the government has restricted access to VoIP services (Voice over Internet Protocol) like WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype, etc.
Moreover, because it does not align with Islamic values, the majority of adult and gambling websites are banned as well.
Some journalists also turn to VPNs to express their opinions freely without the fear of repercussions from the government.
That’s why 5 out of the top 10 countries with the highest vpn adoption are Arab nations:
Top 10 countries for VPN adoption rates
- UAE – 65.78% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- Qatar – 55.43% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- Singapore – 38.23% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- Nauru – 35.49% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- Oman – 31.04% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- Saudi Arabia – 28.93% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- The Netherlands – 21.77% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- The United Kingdom (UK) – 19.63% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- Kuwait – 17.88% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
- Luxembourg – 17.30% average adoption rate (2020 – 2025)
In contrast, the 10 countries with the lowest VPN adoption are predominantly African countries except for China and Vanuatu.
The 10 countries with the lowest VPN adoption are: China, Malawi, Angola, Zambia, Cameroon, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Vanuatu, and Tanzania.
Although China is a nuanced case, and these findings should be taken with a grain of salt, since the methodology of the Cybernews study calculates adoption rates based on the 50 largest provider download numbers from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
However, Google Play Store is banned in China, and Apple’s App Store is very restricted, with most VPN apps removed.
In turn, most Chinese citizens seek various workarounds to install VPNs, such as side-loading applications downloaded from official or even untrustworthy websites, or using lesser-known apps that are still not blocked by the Chinese government.
So, even though China ranks as the lowest VPN adopter in the study, this is likely not the case due to the limitations of the methodology.
VPN downloads and adoption statistics of the last 5 years
Across 106 countries, the average VPN adoption rate rose from 6.95% in 2020 to 10.58% in 2024. That’s roughly an 11.4% compound annual growth rate.
Global downloads by year:
- 2020: 284,591,457
- 2021: 295,722,780
- 2022: 487,049,573
- 2023: 404,248,986
- 2024: 464,021,602
- 2025 (H1): 282,101,253
The total download numbers globally show that downloads have increased overall year by year, except for a slight dip in 2023, as it was challenging for growth to keep pace after the 2022 COVID-19 numbers.
Additionally, the first half of 2025 downloads already nearly match those of the entire year 2020, and 2025 is on track to meet or exceed the demand of 2024.
Global adoption rates by year
- 2020: 6.95%
- 2021: 6.84%
- 2022: 10.06%
- 2023: 10.90%
- 2024: 12.35%
- 2025 (H1): 6.89%
Similarly to download numbers, they are steadily growing overall year by year, despite a slight decline in 2021.
A closer look at G7 countries
United States (global rank 21)
Adoption peaked at 19.75% in 2022. It was 18.36% in 2024 and 10.56% in H1 2025.
Downloads are the highest in the world: 63.4 million in 2024 and 36.7 million in H1 2025.
United Kingdom (global rank 8)
Adoption climbed from a low of 15.80% in 2021 to 24.08% in 2024. H1 2025 sits at 15.38%.
Downloads reached 16.6 million in 2024 and 10.7 million in H1 2025.
Germany (global rank 17)
Adoption rose from 6.94% in 2020 to 21.36% in 2024. H1 2025 is 10.77%.
Downloads hit 18.1 million in 2024 and 9.1 million in H1 2025.
Canada (global rank 18)
Adoption peaked at 17.18% in 2024. H1 2025 is 10.76%.
Downloads totaled 6.8 million in 2024 and 4.3 million in H1 2025.
France (global rank 22)
Adoption reached 16.64% in 2024. H1 2025 stands at 10.55%.
Downloads were 11.1 million in 2024 and 7.0 million in H1 2025.
Italy (global rank 73)
Adoption peaked at 7.48% in 2023 and eased to 7.04% in 2024. H1 2025 is 3.91%.
Downloads hit 4.2 million in 2024 and 2.3 million in H1 2025.
Japan (global rank 84)
Adoption remains low. It was 4.63% in 2020, 4.32% in 2024, and 2.60% in H1 2025.
Downloads reached 5.3 million in 2024 and 3.2 million in H1 2025.
Why the Middle East leads
Governments in the Gulf filter content and restrict categories like adult sites, gambling, and some political material.
Many also limit VoIP calling on WhatsApp, Skype, and FaceTime, which makes everyday communication more challenging without a VPN, especially considering that there are many people in the UAE who have their families waiting for weekly calls from abroad.
One more point worth mentioning is that personal VPN use sits in a legal gray area. For the most part, you won’t get in trouble for using a VPN; however, if you use a VPN while committing a crime, then the penalties are increased significantly.
What drives adoption in Europe and Singapore
In Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, and Luxembourg, the demand for VPNs shifts more towards overcoming content restrictions, such as accessing the widest Netflix libraries.
Security is a consistent concern across all countries, of course.
And privacy is a considerable reason even in countries where the government doesn’t necessarily monitor their citizens as strictly as Arab nations. Yet, many people in free democracies still don’t like the idea that their internet service provider (ISP) can see everything they do online.
The Ukraine-Russia war drove up VPN adoption significantly
War shock moved up the numbers fast.
Ukraine’s adoption rate was 6.14% in 2021. It jumped to 18.92% in 2022 and has remained above 10% since then.
Russia’s adoption rate increased from 4.28% in 2021 to 42.20% in 2022.
A note on the US
The US shows why adoption percentage and raw downloads tell different stories.
The US is outside the global top 20 by per‑capita adoption, yet the total download volume of VPN apps in the US is the largest globally.
People use VPNs to limit ISP tracking, stay secure on public Wi‑Fi, avoid DDoS attacks, and keep access to streaming catalogs while traveling.
While hard content blocks are rare in the US, the internet is generally unrestricted, but privacy, security, and convenience keep demand growing.
Methodology limits worth considering
Cybernews compared app store downloads to population to estimate adoption. It’s a clean way to compare countries of different sizes, but there are limits.
- Downloads don’t equal unique users. Reinstalls and device changes inflate totals.
- Store region doesn’t always match where someone lives. That matters in restricted markets.
- Desktop apps, direct website downloads, and side‑loaded Android APKs aren’t counted.
- Adoption per capita doesn’t adjust for internet access or smartphone ownership.
- The dataset covers 50 VPN providers. Niche or regional apps might be missing.
- The analysis spots patterns, but it doesn’t prove cause.
