According to eMarketer, the global Internet population will reach 709.1 million in 2004, up from its estimate of 445.9 million last year. eMarketer believes that the number of Internet users around the world will increase by a compound annual growth rate of 19.1 percent between now and 2004, reaching 529.9 million this year, and 622.9 million in 2003. The main increases will come from developing countries. For example, the number of new Internet users in Latin America will grow by almost 40 percent annually between 2000 and 2004, while the number of new users in North America will grow at the slower rate of 14.3 percent.