[Air-l] recent statistics on Internet use

[Katerina]

I have been trying to find up-to-date global statistics on Internet use and have had much difficulty. Most sources cover only particular areas of the planet - mostly the USA or other isolated areas but I have not been able to find data on global use of Internet use. 
What I am mostly interested in is any quantitative data on the use of different Internet applications (e-mail, participation in forums (communities), searching for information, etc). I have also been looking for data on the number of existing online communities - if there is a way of keeping account of them - and/or of trends on their growth. 
I would greatly appreciate any help offered, 
K. Diamantaki