(Telecompaper) The number of people online all over the world has grown to 3.2 billion, up from 2.9 billion last year and equating to around 43 percent of the global population, according to new figures from the 2015 edition of the State of Broadband report published by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). However, while access to the internet is approaching saturation levels in the developed world, the report reveals that some 4 billion people, or 57 percent of the world's population, remain offline. Released to coincide with the forthcoming United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York and the parallel meeting of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development on 26 September, the fourth edition of the State of Broadband report confirms the ITU's forecast from earlier this year, adding that the internet is only accessible to 35 percent of people in developing countries. The situation in the 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries is particularly critical, said the ITU, with over 90 percent of people without any kind of internet connectivity.