Where VPNs Are Most Popular: Cybernews Per‑Capita Adoption Study (2020–2025)

VILNIUS, Lithuania - Oct. 29, 2025 - PRLog -- A recent Cybernews study looks at VPN app download counts and compares them with the populations of 106 analyzed countries to gauge per‑capita usage and identify where VPNs are most popular.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, VPNs see the highest use in countries with strict internet controls, particularly in Arab states like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

In these countries, governments restrict access to VoIP services (Voice over Internet Protocol) such as WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Skype.

Moreover, since it conflicts with Islamic values, most adult and gambling websites are banned as well.

Some journalists also use VPNs to express their opinions freely without fear of government repercussions.

That's why 5 of the top 10 countries by 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)

By contrast, the 10 countries with the lowest VPN adoption are mostly African nations, 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.

China is a nuanced case, and these findings should be taken with a grain of salt, since the Cybernews methodology estimates adoption from download numbers of the 50 largest providers on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

However, Google Play is banned in China, and Apple's App Store is heavily restricted, with most VPN apps removed.

As a result, many Chinese users look for workarounds to install VPNs, such as side‑loading apps from official or even unvetted websites, or using lesser‑known apps that haven't been blocked.

So even though China ranks lowest for VPN adoption in the study, that likely reflects methodological limits rather than reality.

VPN downloads and adoption over the last 5 years

Across 106 countries, the average VPN adoption rate rose from 6.95% in 2020 to 10.58% in 2024—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

Globally, downloads have risen overall year by year, with a slight dip in 2023 as growth normalized after the 2022 COVID‑19 surge.

Full report is available here: https://cybernews.com/best-vpn/vpn-usage-by-country/