Questions about statistics

I was wondering how the percentile works:

- I have 818 elo in rapid

- I have a percentile of 48%

- My rank is #3 108 341

But in the global statistic page, we can see that there are 22 396 552 players, so the percentile should be about 86% ? Are inactive players removed from the statistics ?

Other question : As the average elo is about 835, can we consider that 835 elo in rapid is not a beginner level, but more like an average player level ? At the beginning I was around 500 elo, and slowly progressed to my current level, and I have the feeling that I would have to train a lot more to progress again. Which is what a casual player would not do. Hence my question : is 840 elo in rapid considered as little more than a beginner level ?

As you can see, your rank percentage must be compared to players active in the last 90 days.

Your second question is harder. What does the 835 average really mean?  I think we would want to know the average among active players.

800 would still be beginner in my opinion. While it is the average in the rapid pool, the ratings in rapid at that level isn't very competitive and a lot of newer players play it(rightly so, since it's better to play longer time controls when new).

But being as new as you are you are doing great, keep it up! 

Thanks for your support !

You're confusing two terms.

The average player is a beginner! 

It takes some time to understand the meta game, to see both the pieces and the squares.  To see when a piece is hung, both in the actual sense, and in the positional sense.

And honestly, a lot of people are perfectly happy pushing wood and looking for tactics, rather than advancing their game. They feel no need to read a chess book or know an opening, but they are still part of the chess playing community.