Opera Mini hits 1m milestone in 11 countries

Browser usage grows 83 per cent in the last year.

Norwegian search engine Opera has been grooming its mobile efforts recently with the launch of a browser service that tracks data allowance.

Now the firm says it has hit the one million monthly active user milestone in 11 countries this year, bringing the overall total to 22.

According to Opera's State of the Mobile Web report, more than 140 million people used the Opera Mini browser last month, which is an 83 per cent increase on last year.

Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software, said: "Opera Mini has gained users in every country, across 2G, 3G and 4G networks, across feature phone and smartphones. What these numbers won't tell you is that many people use Opera Mini as their only means to get online.

"We're seeing a whole new generation of people connect to the Web for the first time using a mobile device and we are only starting to see the changes -- societal, technological, and cultural -- that will happen as a result."