India’s digital market in 2026: 12 numbers every business should know

Short answer: India now has about 958 million active internet users, and 57% of them live in rural areas. Rural use is growing nearly four times faster than urban use. Digital is 63% of India’s ad market, about ₹94,700 crore in 2025 and up 26% in a year. Six in ten internet users watch short videos, 44% already use AI features such as voice and image search, and UPI handles more than 800 million payments a day. For a business, that means the next customers are increasingly outside metros, on video, asking AI tools, and expecting to pay and chat on their phones.

Here are the 12 numbers that matter most, and what to do about each. Last updated: 10 October 2026.

India’s digital market in 2026: the numbers at a glance

Metric	Latest figure	Source
Active internet users	~958 million (+~8% year on year)	IAMAI–Kantar, Internet in India 2025
Rural internet users	~548 million (57% of users)	IAMAI–Kantar
Rural vs urban growth	Rural growing nearly 4× faster	IAMAI–Kantar
Short-video viewers	~588 million (61% of users)	IAMAI–Kantar
Users of AI features (voice, image search, chatbots)	44% of users	IAMAI–Kantar
Multi-device users	193 million (20%)	IAMAI–Kantar
Users on someone else’s phone	1 in 5, ~80% of them rural	IAMAI–Kantar
Digital ad spend (2025)	₹94,700 crore, +26%	FICCI–EY M&E report 2026
Digital share of all advertising	63% (2025), up from 50% in 2023	FICCI–EY
E-commerce and point-of-sale ads	₹22,000 crore, +50%	FICCI–EY
UPI payments (Sept 2026)	24.07 billion transactions, ₹29.37 lakh crore	NPCI data
UPI daily average (Sept 2026)	802 million transactions a day	NPCI data

Internet figures are from the IAMAI–Kantar Internet in India 2025 report (released January 2026), as reported by Business Standard and BestMediaInfo. Ad figures are from the FICCI–EY 2026 report, as reported by Storyboard18. UPI figures are NPCI data as reported by StartupTalky.

1. Your next customers are outside the metros

With 548 million rural users growing nearly four times faster than urban users, Tier-2, Tier-3 and rural India is where online demand is expanding fastest. For travel, education, healthcare and D2C brands, targeting only Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru now leaves most of the growth on the table.

What to do: test location targeting beyond metros, use prices and offers that fit those markets, and make sure your Google Business Profile and pages mention the towns you serve.

2. Short video is the default format

About 61% of internet users (roughly 588 million people) watch short videos, with rural viewers slightly outnumbering urban ones. A static banner is now the exception, not the norm.

What to do: make every campaign include at least one 15–30 second vertical video. Real people, real places and a clear price beat polished stock footage. Our Meta ads cost guide shows what video-led lead campaigns cost in India.

3. People are asking AI, not just typing keywords

44% of users have already used AI features such as voice search, image search and chatbots. Customers increasingly ask complete questions (“best Kerala package for a family of four in December”) and get AI-written answers that name a few businesses.

What to do: write pages that answer questions directly, with specific facts, and keep your business details consistent everywhere. See our guides to Google AI Mode and getting named in AI answers.

4. Digital is now most of the ad market, so competition is rising

Digital took 63% of all advertising in 2025, up from 50% just two years earlier, and grew 26% in a year. FICCI–EY also highlights small and medium businesses as a fast-growing source of ad spend. More businesses bidding for the same audiences means rising costs in busy seasons.

What to do: compete on conversion, not just reach. Track cost per booking rather than cost per lead, and reply to leads within minutes.

5. Commerce-led advertising is the fastest-growing slice

E-commerce and point-of-sale advertising grew about 50% to ₹22,000 crore. Shoppers are being reached right where they buy, on marketplaces and quick-commerce apps.

What to do: if you sell products, budget for marketplace ads alongside Meta and Google. If you sell services, shorten the path from ad to conversation, for example with Click-to-WhatsApp ads.

6. Payments are instant, so your follow-up must be too

UPI processed 24.07 billion transactions in September 2026, an average of 802 million a day. Indians are used to paying in seconds on their phones. A booking process that needs a bank transfer, a PDF form and three phone calls feels slow by comparison.

What to do: send UPI payment links and booking confirmations on WhatsApp, and automate reminders. Our WhatsApp follow-up playbook shows the sequence.

7. Many users share devices, so keep it simple

One in five users go online on someone else’s phone, and about 80% of them are rural. Meanwhile 193 million people use several devices. Long forms, logins and “check your email” steps lose these users.

What to do: use short forms, pre-filled Instant Forms and WhatsApp-first contact, and track conversions server-side (Conversions API) so cross-device journeys aren’t lost.

8. Speak your customer’s language

The previous edition of the IAMAI–Kantar report found that nearly all internet users accessed content in Indian languages. If your customers think in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil or Marathi, an English-only ad is a handicap.

What to do: test Hindi or regional-language versions of your best ads and WhatsApp scripts, especially outside metros.

What this means for your 2026–27 marketing plan

1. Expand targeting beyond metros, with local proof and pricing.
2. Lead with short vertical video in every campaign.
3. Optimise for AI answers, not just blue links.
4. Win on speed: instant WhatsApp replies and UPI payment links.
5. Measure bookings, not clicks, so rising ad costs don’t hide in vanity metrics.

Want to build these skills in-house? Our free Adwix Academy has learning tracks and free live workshops.

Frequently asked questions

How many internet users are there in India in 2026?

The IAMAI–Kantar Internet in India 2025 report, released in January 2026, puts India at about 958 million active internet users, growing about 8% a year. Roughly 548 million, or 57%, are in rural areas.

How big is digital advertising in India?

According to the FICCI–EY media and entertainment report 2026, digital advertising grew 26% in 2025 to about ₹94,700 crore, which is 63% of India’s total advertising market.

Is rural India important for digital marketing?

Yes. Rural users make up about 57% of India’s internet users and are growing nearly four times faster than urban users, so businesses that target only metros miss most of the growth.

Which ad formats work best in India now?

Short vertical video is the default: about 61% of Indian internet users watch short videos. Pair it with fast follow-up on WhatsApp and simple forms, and judge results by bookings rather than clicks.

Sources: IAMAI–Kantar Internet in India 2025 (via Business Standard, BestMediaInfo and Manifest Media); FICCI–EY M&E report 2026 (via Storyboard18); NPCI UPI data (via StartupTalky). Figures are as reported. Check the original reports for methodology.