"Facts and Figures 2020 reveals that people in rural areas continue to face greater challenges than people in urban areas in terms of remaining connected during the lockdown, especially in developing economies. Large swathes of the rural landscape are still not covered by mobile broadband networks, and fewer households in these areas have access to the Internet. Also worrying, the rollout of communications infrastructure is slowing. Since growth in communications infrastructure deployment was already showing signs of slowing in 2019, it is still too early to tell whether growth has stalled because of the pandemic, or whether there are other factors at play. This new edition of Facts and Figures also finds that mobile cellular subscriptions have been declining for the first time in history, and that growth in mobile broadband subscriptions is levelling out. Here, as before, it is not certain if this a result of the COVID-19 crisis: it will be interesting to see what happens once the world finally reverts to a more normal state of affairs. On a more optimistic note, our research confirms that, where connectivity is available, and affordable, young people are enthusiastic adopters of technology and have relatively high levels of Internet use. While overall just over half of the global population is using the Internet, among young people aged 15 to 24 this rises to almost 70 per cent. This is particularly encouraging in view of the fast-growing youth demographic in much of the developing world, where digital technologies have the potential to become a major accelerator of economic growth and development and an important driver of progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals." (Foreword)