Digital 2027: The Cook Islands
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This page explores the adoption and use of connected devices and services in the Cook Islands in 2027.
If you want to understand how the data and trends in this report compare with digital behaviours and preferences in the Cook Islands over time, or if you’re looking for data for past years, you can find DataReportal’s full collection of (free!) reports on the Cook Islands by clicking here.
You’ll find a summary of key statistics in the “overview graphic” section towards the bottom of this page, but we’ll start this article by taking a look at the essential headline numbers for the Cook Islands this year.
Just before that, we’d like to say a big thank you to Meltwater and to We Are Social for their support of this year’s Global Digital Reports.
OK, ready to start exploring the data?
The “state of digital” in the Cook Islands in 2027
Here are DataReportal’s essential headlines for the adoption and use of connected devices and services in the Cook Islands in 2027:
A total of 18.2 thousand cellular mobile connections were active in the Cook Islands in late 2026, with this figure equivalent to 143 percent of the total population. However, note that some of these connections may only include services such as voice and SMS, and some may not include access to the internet.
There were 6,869 individuals using the internet in the Cook Islands at the end of 2026, when online penetration stood at 54.0 percent.
The Cook Islands had 11.8 thousand* social media user identities in October 2026, equating to 92.4 percent of the total population.
These headline stats offer a great overview of the “state of digital” in the Cook Islands for 2027, but in order to make sense of how digital trends and behaviours have been evolving, we need to dig deeper into the data.
So, let’s take a closer look at what the numbers tell us, starting with some valuable context relating to the population of the Cook Islands.
*Note: while it may seem implausible that social media user numbers could exceed internet user numbers, there may be various reasons for this apparent “mismatch”, many of which do not entail or imply any actual error in the source data or its subsequent treatment. As a result, we’ve elected to report the data “as is”, in order to enable readers to form their own judgements. Please see our detailed notes on data to learn more about the potential causes of this anomaly, and to read our guidance on how to interpret this data.
Population of the Cook Islands in 2027
Data from the United Nations indicates that the population of the Cook Islands stood at 12.7 thousand in October 2026.
The same dataset also shows that the Cook Islands’ population decreased by 428 (-3.3 percent) between the end of 2025 and the end of 2026.
At that time, 51.3 percent of the Cook Islands’ population was female, while 48.7 percent of the population was male.
Note: gender data were only available for “female” and “male” at the time of report production.
The Cook Islands’ population by age
At the end of 2026, the median age of the Cook Islands’ population was 38.1, with half of the Cook Islands’ population above this age, and the other half of the population below it.
For added context, here’s how the Cook Islands’ total population broke down by age group at the end of the year, according to the United Nations’ data:
5.5 percent was between the ages of 0 and 4.
13.1 percent was between the ages of 5 and 12.
10.1 percent was between the ages of 13 and 17.
9.8 percent was between the ages of 18 and 24.
7.2 percent was between the ages of 25 and 34.
11.3 percent was between the ages of 35 and 44.
12.9 percent was between the ages of 45 and 54.
14.6 percent was between the ages of 55 and 64.
15.5 percent was aged 65 and above.
Note: percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
Mobile connections in the Cook Islands in 2027
Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 18.2 thousand cellular mobile connections in the Cook Islands at the end of 2026.
For perspective, many people make use of more than one mobile connection, so it’s not unusual for mobile connection figures to significantly exceed figures for total population.
For example, the same person might have one mobile connection for personal use, but also use a separate mobile connection for work activities. The rise of eSIMs has made this even easier over recent years.
Indeed, GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in the Cook Islands were equivalent to 143 percent of the total population in October 2026.
Looking at trends over time, the number of mobile connections in the Cook Islands increased by 945 (+5.5 percent) between the end of 2025 and the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, GSMA Intelligence’s data suggests that 100 percent of mobile connections in the Cook Islands can now be considered “broadband”, which means that they connect via 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile networks.
However, devices that connect to “broadband” mobile networks do not necessarily use cellular mobile data — for example, some subscription plans may only include access to voice and SMS services — so this broadband figure should not be considered a proxy for mobile internet use.
Internet use in the Cook Islands in 2027
At the time of report production, Manochi’s analysis of the latest available data indicated that there were 6,869 internet users in the Cook Islands in October 2026.
This means that the Cook Islands’ internet penetration rate stood at 54.0 percent of the total population at the end of 2026.
For reference, our internet user figures are informed by data from numerous reputable sources, including:
The ITU (the International Telecommunication Union), which is the United Nations’ specialised agency for digital technologies that “facilitates international connectivity in communication networks”.
GSMA Intelligence, which is the market intelligence arm of the GSMA, a global organisation that ”unifies the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop, and deliver innovation”.
Eurostat, which is the statistical office of the European Union.
National telecommunications authorities, government regulators, and national statistics offices.
Planning tools provided by various large internet companies, including Google and Meta.
Manochi’s analysis of this data indicates that the reported number of internet users in the Cook Islands decreased by 231 (-3.3 percent) between October 2025 and October 2026.
And for added perspective, the Cook Islands’ internet adoption rate (i.e. the percentage of the total population that uses the internet) remained unchanged during the same period.
It’s important to stress that changes in internet user numbers can also be influenced by overall changes in population though, while changes in internet adoption rates may be the result of revisions and updates to data reporting, and consequently may include a degree of change that occurred before our stated reporting period.
But these user figures also suggest that 5,852 people in the Cook Islands did not use the internet at the end of 2026, which would mean that 46.0 percent of the population remained “offline” at the end of that year.
However, complexities associated with the collection and analysis of internet user data mean that it can often take several months before research is ready for publication.
As a result, the latest published figures for internet use may under-represent current realities, and actual rates for internet adoption and year-on-year growth may be higher than the figures shown here suggest.
Please see our comprehensive notes on data for further details.
Social media statistics for the Cook Islands in 2027
Proprietary analysis conducted by Manochi on behalf of DataReportal indicates that there were 11.8 thousand active social media user identities in the Cook Islands in October 2026.
For perspective, this figure was equivalent to 92.4 percent of the Cook Islands’ total population at the end of 2026.
However, while Manochi’s methodology strives to “de-duplicate” social media users across different social platforms — and, wherever possible, to remove accounts that do not represent individual human users — it’s important to stress that our social media user identities figures may not represent unique individuals (see our detailed notes on data to learn why).
Moreover, due to complexities associated with de-duplicating users across different social platforms, the methodology that we use to calculate social media user identities may sometimes only factor users of the social media platform that has the largest reported ad audience in the respective country at the time of report production.
As a result, the figures that we publish for a country’s overall social media use may sometimes look very similar to the statistics that we publish for the largest individual social media platform in that country.
Even in such cases, however, the potential audience reach values reported by individual social media platforms may exceed the values that we report for the total population, for the population in specific age groups, or for a country’s total internet user base.
We recognise that such anomalies may seem implausible, but — because these are figures reported by the platforms themselves — we’ve elected to publish values “as is”, because these anomalies may offer valuable insights in their own right (you can find more details in our extensive notes on data). These anomalies are one of the primary reasons why we refer to “social media user identities” instead of “social media users”.
Separately, please also note that the signals and sources that we rely on to inform these social media figures make regular changes and corrections to their data.
Consequently, the values for social media use shown here might appear to be quite different to the numbers that we published in previous years.
Because of this, we advise significant caution when comparing the values for social media user identities published in this year’s reports with those published in previous years, especially because changes in our reported values may be the result of “corrections” in the source data, and not all trends will be the result of changes in actual user behaviour.
This is particularly pertinent when it comes to trends in social media use over time, and we recommend that readers use the change figures published below, rather than trying to re-calculate growth figures using data published in our previous reports.
And on that note, Manochi’s analysis shows that social media user identities in the Cook Islands decreased by 200* (-1.7 percent) between late 2025 and the end of 2026.
Turning our attention to user demographics, data published in the ad planning tools of top social media platforms indicates that there were 11.8 thousand user identities aged 18 and above using social media in the Cook Islands at the end of 2026, which was equivalent to 129.4 percent* of the total population aged 18 and above.
At that time, 53.6 percent of the Cook Islands’ social media user identities were female, while 46.4 percent were male.
And for added context, it may be helpful to know that 171.1 percent* of the Cook Islands’ total internet user base (regardless of age) used at least one social media platform in October 2026.
Note: due to source data limitations, we’re only able to report gender data for “female” and “male”.
*Advisory: we’re aware that usage rates in excess of 100 percent of the population, of the “eligible” population, and / or of internet users may seem implausible, but we’ve elected to republish source data “as is”, in order to enable readers to make their own judgements. Please see our detailed notes on data to learn more about potential causes of these anomalies.
*Important note: the various signals that we use to inform our figures for social media user identities include advertising reach data published by individual social media platforms.
From time to time, these platforms may revise or “correct” the audience reach figures that they report in their advertising tools, and these interventions may result in apparent declines in reported audience reach.
In such instances, the figures that we report for social media user identities may also show a consequent decline in overall social media activity, but this is only because the platforms’ tools do not enable us to re-collect revised data for historical periods.
Indeed, in most instances where our social media user identities numbers show declines, it is unlikely that actual social media user numbers have declined to the same extent, and this is one of the reasons why we refer to “social media user identities” instead of “social media users”.
As a result, we advise significant caution when interpreting trends relating to negative changes in social media user identities figures.
Additional resources
Just before we get to the overview graphic, here are some suggestions for further reading, which will provide additional context for our full set of Digital 2027 numbers for the Cook Islands:
Read our complete Digital 2027 Global Overview Report to get a comprehensive overview of the “state of digital” around the world in 2027.
Click here to see all of the Global Digital Reports we’ve published for the Cook Islands over the years.
Explore all of our reports on countries in the Oceania region by clicking here.
Find all of the reports in the Digital 2027 series via this handy index page.
Visit our complete online library to see all of the (free!) reports in the Global Digital Reports series.
If you’d like to receive updates when we publish new reports, click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Overview graphic
You’ll find a handy overview of the current “state of digital” in the Cook Islands in the graphic below.
OCT
2026
ISLANDS
TOTAL
POPULATION
YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE
DEGREE OF URBANISATION
CELLULAR MOBILE
CONNECTIONS
YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE
TOTAL vs. POPULATION
INDIVIDUALS USING
THE INTERNET
YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE
TOTAL vs. POPULATION
SOCIAL MEDIA
USER IDENTITIES
YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE
TOTAL vs. POPULATION
SOURCES: UN; GOVERNMENT RESOURCES; GSMA INTELLIGENCE; ITU; EUROSTAT; CNNIC; COMPANY AD TOOLS; MANOCHI ANALYSIS. ADVISORY: SOCIAL MEDIA USER IDENTITIES MAY NOT REPRESENT UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS. COMPARABILITY: SOURCE CHANGES AND BASE REVISIONS. FIGURES MAY NOT BE COMPARABLE WITH PREVIOUS REPORTS. GLOBAL DATA MAY USE DIFFERENT SOURCES vs. LOCAL AND REGIONAL DATA, SO SUMS MAY NOT CORRELATE. WHERE AVAILABLE, VALUE FOR URBANISATION NOW USES THE UN’S “DEGREE OF URBANISATION” METHODOLOGY. IMPORTANT: NEGATIVE VALUES MAY INDICATE SOURCE CORRECTIONS, AND MAY NOT REPRESENT DECREASES IN ADOPTION OR USE. WHERE VALUES ARE “[N/A]”, COMPARISONS WITH HISTORICAL DATA WILL PRODUCE INACCURATE RESULTS. SEE NOTES ON DATA.
