Only six percent of the world's population has access to the Internet, according to the latest figures.

Billions of people around the world are not surfing the Web due to lack of interest, need, money and equipment, according to a survey in 30 countries.

The number one reason for not being on the Internet -- given by 40 percent of respondents in the 30 nations -- is that they have no need to.

Lack of a computer keeps 33 percent away, and a lack of interest was cited by 25 percent, according to the survey carried out by research firm Ipsos-Reid.

"In the developed world, a substantial number of people who could very easily go online have decided not to," said Ipsos-Reid senior vice president Brian Cruikshank in a statement.

"They see no compelling reason to be on the Web. The hype and the promise of the Internet clearly hasn't impressed them -- not yet at least."

For 16 percent of people who don't use the Internet, the biggest barrier is not understanding how to, while 12 percent cited cost as a obstacle and 10 percent said it was a lack of time.

About 400 million people use the Web daily, with 65 percent of Sweden's population using the Internet frequently, followed by 60 percent in Canada and 59 percent in the United States, Ipsos-Reid said.

In contrast, only nine percent of urban India's population are frequent Internet users, and 13 percent of Turkey's citizens and six percent in urban Russia -- where 83 percent of citizens said they had no Internet access -- frequent the Net.

"In nascent, less developed markets, the cost of accessing the Internet competes with the cost for basic necessities and access availability is very limited outside urban areas," Cruikshank said.

In certain parts of the world, people who want to surf the Web outweigh those with Internet access. Those countries include South Korea and urban markets in Malaysia, India, Mexico, and South Africa, the study found.

"Far from being dead, the Internet has a large growth potential everywhere, but progress is destined to be slower than its most enthusiastic advocates might have envisioned a few years ago," Cruikshank said.

The study showed that on average, 98 percent of respondents had a television, 51 percent a mobile phone, 48 percent a home computer, and 36 percent home Internet access.

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