Online activity in small towns and rural areas

28.03.2025

Nearly half of Russians live in settlements with fewer than 100,000 residents. A resent Mediascope report reveals insights on the digital activity of small-town and rural residents.

The key findings are as follows:

The average monthly internet audience in Russia for towns under 100K, referred to as «Russia 100-» is 83%, with daily time spent online at 4 hours 23 minutes per person. In larger Russian cities («Russia 100+»), these numbers are only slightly higher — 88% and 4 hours 46 minutes, respectively.

Residents of small towns and villages actively use digital services. While the gap in reach for some services between «Russia 100+» and «Russia 100-» remains noticeable, the growth rate in smaller settlements is much higher, narrowing the gap each year. Over three years, the average monthly reach in small towns has increased for:

• Maps & Navigation (+12%)
• Food Delivery (excluding super apps like Yandex GO) (+36%)
• Taxi Services (+37%)
• Event Tickets (+32%)
• Travel Services (+16%)

Nearly half of small-town Russians use e-commerce resources daily. Monthly, this share reaches 77% of «Russia 100-» residents. On average, these users spend 24 minutes per day on e-commerce services—just 3 minutes less than users in major cities.

Small-town Russians generate 1.7 billion e-commerce search queries per month. The overall search structure is quite similar between large and small cities, but residents of smaller towns search more for gadgets, construction & DIY goods, auto & motorcycle products.

Russia, population 12+, mobile and desktop, February 2025.

The full report is available in Russian via the link.