According to Nielsen-Netratings, the number of people with Internet access at home grew by 16 percent from April 2001 to April 2002 to reach a total of 422.4 million home users in the 21 countries surveyed by the research firm.
The number of people actively using the web from home rose by 18 percent to 214.4 million over the same period.
The time spent online by Internet users also rose by 13 percent, while the number of sessions per month increased by nearly 9 percent.
Nielsen-Netratings estimates that a quarter of the Internet population in the countries surveyed use a high-speed connection at home.
The study also indicates that top global web properties for April were unchanged from previous months with Yahoo claiming the top spot and MSN, AOL Time Warner, Microsoft and Lycos Network following close behind.
Internet usage is increasing worldwide
More people log on for greater lengths of time