2010 saw the introduction of Arabic domain names which has helped to triple internet penetration over the last eight years in the Middle East due to the use of local language scripts.
While internet penetration has always been high in certain Arab states, such as UAE which is a highly digitised economy and society, others are far behind in digitisation despite the region’s 60% average internet penetration rate.
According to Gulf News, the new system introduced in 2010, created new domain names in Arabic enabling Middle Eastern users to access the internet in their native language, using local language scripts, with non-Latin alphabets.
These new International Domain Name (IDN) web addresses with the generic top level domain (gTLD) included users of languages based on right to left scripts such as Arabic, and non-alphabet scripts such as Mandarin Chinese.
Following the introduction of these new scripts, it is hoped that internet penetration will also increase in rural areas, and accessibility should be greatly enhanced for non-English speakers around the globe.
At present the majority of internet users are able to read and write English however, the emergence of a new rural market, due to mobile devices such as smartphones, highlights the importance of local script usage as many of these new users have limited knowledge of the English language.
Other statistics from the Middle East show that the surge in smartphone usage has also altered the way that Arab nationals are accessing news, with more than half of Arab nationals now choosing the internet as their main source of news, two-thirds of these via smartphones.
The availability of the local language scripts on the internet has produced a significant rise in the number of users that now access the internet in the Arabic language. In 2013 only 58% of users used Arabic language but this year the number has risen to 78%.
These figures highlight the growing importance of translation and localization for companies that trade in the Middle East; local language use is essential for businesses who wish to maximise consumer interest and awareness.
English is no longer the preferred language of choice for internet users in the Middle East due to the availability of smartphones and accessibility of local languages – more people will be attracted to the internet over the coming years who wish to use the internet in their native language.
To ensure your business’ success in the Middle East a proficient, reliable and accurate Arabic translation is crucial and will give you access to more users than a purely English language based site.
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