The latest report from analyst firm Gartner has shown that the highest broadband penetration in the world is in South Korea at 86 percent and the lowest is in Indonesia at less than 1 percent.

The report also said that emerging markets, which includes the Philippines, will collectively provide twice as many new consumer broadband connections as mature markets over the next five years: 135 million vs. 62 million connections, respectively.

“Despite the global economic downturn, the number of household broadband connections continues to grow robustly, and one in five households worldwide will have a fixed broadband connection in the home by the end of 2009,” Gartner said.

A total of 422 million households will have a fixed broadband connection in the home in 2009, up from 382 million households in 2008, and the market will steadily grow with nearly 580 million households having a fixed broadband connection by 2013, according to the report.

“Consumers may be watching their household expenditure, but dropping their broadband connections is not on the top of their agendas as a way to reduce outgoings,” said Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner.

At the end of 2008, approximately 21 countries had broadband connections in at least 50 percent of homes.

Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) are expected to account for 92 million (68 percent) of the increased 135 million household broadband connections in the emerging markets, meaning that BRIC accounts for almost half (47 percent) of the total global increase in connections.

Twenty seven million US households will make up a large share of new broadband connections in mature markets between 2008 and 2013, with Japan accounting for almost 10 million, Germany with 5 million, and the UK with slightly over 3 million connections.

However, despite the significant growth in connections in emerging markets, Gartner said that households in emerging markets will continue to outnumber those in mature markets by 4-to-1.

“Consequently, it is unlikely that broadband household penetration in the emerging markets will catch up with mature markets within the next 10 years,” the research firm said.

Gartner also said the digital divide will remain in the 50 to 54 percent range for the foreseeable future.