Nearly 54 million digital TV households will be added in 2007, bringing the global total to 239 million says new research published by Informa Telecoms and Media.

The report forecasts that digital penetration of TV households will reach 22 per cent by the end of the year. The North American penetration rate will exceed 68 per cent, with western Europe at 52 per cent. A further 52 million digital homes will be added to the total in 2008.

43 per cent of the world's TV homes will receive digital signals by 2012 - or 504 million households. This indicates that digital growth will accelerate as the decade progresses, especially outside North America and western Europe. More than 264 million digital homes will be added to the total between 2007 and the end of 2012, which will more than double the total.

China will be a major contributor to this increase by accounting for 60 million of the extra homes. Other significant rises will come in the US (39 million more), Japan (20 million) and India (23 million).