Public cloud services expanded from 332.3 billion dollars to a forecast 679 billion dollars. Social engineering accounts for 68 percent of breaches. Human elements appear in 83 percent of incidents.
Key Takeaways
- The global public cloud services market reached $332.3 billion in 2021
- The global public cloud services market was forecast to reach $679.0 billion in 2024
- The global cloud infrastructure services market was expected to reach $232.1 billion in 2021
- 79% of organizations used at least one cloud service by 2020 (Gartner survey summary reported in industry coverage)
- 84% of companies use social media for marketing (Sprout Social industry report)
- 4.2 billion people used social media worldwide in 2021
- Supply chain attacks were involved in 35% of reported breaches in 2021 (Verizon DBIR)
- In 2022 DBIR, social engineering accounted for 68% of breaches (Verizon DBIR)
- In the 2022 DBIR, 83% of breaches involved human element (Verizon DBIR)
- The average cost of a data breach in the US was $9.05 million in 2020 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach report)
- The average cost of a data breach globally was $4.24 million in 2021 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach report)
- Kubernetes improved workload deployment success rate by 26% in a benchmark (CNCF case study metric)
- Average cost of a data breach was $4.35 million in 2022 (IBM Security Cost of a Data Breach report)
- Average cost of a data breach was $4.24 million in 2021 (IBM Security Cost of a Data Breach report)
- The average cost of a ransomware attack was $4.62 million in 2019 (IBM/Ponemon studies)
Cloud, cybersecurity, and fintech are booming, with global public cloud and AI markets projected to nearly explode by 2030.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size30 stats
01
The global public cloud services market reached $332.3 billion in 2021
02
The global public cloud services market was forecast to reach $679.0 billion in 2024
03
The global cloud infrastructure services market was expected to reach $232.1 billion in 2021
04
Worldwide enterprise spending on public cloud services was expected to total $500.0 billion in 2021
05
The worldwide IaaS market was expected to reach $144.8 billion in 2021
06
The worldwide SaaS market was expected to reach $179.3 billion in 2021
07
The global cybersecurity market was estimated at $173 billion in 2020
08
The global cybersecurity market was projected to reach $345.4 billion by 2026
09
Global digital ad spending was projected to reach $517 billion in 2023
10
The global e-commerce market sales totaled $5.2 trillion in 2021
11
The global e-commerce market sales were forecast to reach $6.3 trillion in 2024
12
The global IT services market was valued at $1.1 trillion in 2022
13
The global IT services market was forecast to reach $1.3 trillion in 2025
14
Global electric vehicle sales were 6.6 million units in 2021
15
Electric car sales were forecast to reach 14 million in 2023 (IEA outlook)
16
Worldwide VR headset shipments reached 10.4 million units in 2020
17
Worldwide VR headset shipments were expected to reach 27 million units in 2021
18
The global fintech market size was estimated at $127.66 billion in 2020
19
The global fintech market size was projected to grow to $463.88 billion by 2030
20
Global payments revenues were $2.5 trillion in 2020
21
Global cross-border payments market reached $200 billion in 2022 (estimate in BIS working paper context)
22
The global renewable energy market grew to $366.9 billion in 2020
23
Renewable energy capacity additions were 295 gigawatts in 2020
24
Global renewable power generation capacity reached 3,064 GW in 2020 (IRENA stat)
25
Global wind power capacity reached 743 GW installed in 2020 (IRENA stat)
26
Global solar PV capacity additions reached 135 GW in 2020
27
Global industrial production grew by 3.6% in 2021
28
Global GDP grew by 6.0% in 2021 (World Bank estimate)
29
Global goods trade volume increased by 9.3% in 2021
30
Global LNG trade volume was about 401 million tonnes in 2021
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
Across industries, the pace of digital and cloud growth is accelerating fast, from the global public cloud services market rising from $332.3 billion in 2021 to a forecast $679.0 billion in 2024 and cybersecurity climbing from $173 billion in 2020 to a projected $345.4 billion by 2026.
02 · Category
User Adoption15 stats
01
79% of organizations used at least one cloud service by 2020 (Gartner survey summary reported in industry coverage)
02
84% of companies use social media for marketing (Sprout Social industry report)
03
4.2 billion people used social media worldwide in 2021
04
5.04 billion people used social media worldwide in 2022
05
48% of internet users used social media in 2018 (ITU data cited in report)
06
60% of survey respondents said they use automation tools (Gartner customer survey cited in research brief)
07
84% of U.S. households have a broadband internet subscription (FCC 2022 broadband report, percentage of households)
08
90% of adults in the U.S. used the internet in 2021 (Pew Research Center)
09
93% of young adults (18–29) in the U.S. used the internet in 2021 (Pew Research Center)
10
81% of U.S. adults own a smartphone (Pew Research Center, 2021)
11
56% of U.S. adults use contactless payments (Federal Reserve 2021 Diary of consumer payment choice)
12
78% of Canadians used the internet in 2022 (Statistics Canada)
13
68% of households in the OECD had home internet access in 2021 (OECD)
14
52% of adults worldwide used online banking in 2019 (World Bank/Global Findex)
15
76% of adults with an account used it for digital payments in 2021 (Global Findex 2021)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With social media reaching 5.04 billion users in 2022 alongside 79% of organizations using at least one cloud service by 2020, these figures show how deeply connected and digitized marketing and everyday services have become.
03 · Category
Industry Trends11 stats
01
Supply chain attacks were involved in 35% of reported breaches in 2021 (Verizon DBIR)
02
In 2022 DBIR, social engineering accounted for 68% of breaches (Verizon DBIR)
03
In the 2022 DBIR, 83% of breaches involved human element (Verizon DBIR)
04
Phishing was the initial attack vector in 36% of incidents in Verizon DBIR 2023 (DBIR)
05
In 2023 DBIR, credential theft occurred in 17% of breaches (DBIR)
06
In 2020, 97% of malware samples were delivered via email attachments or links (Proofpoint/Microsoft security report)
07
In 2021, 90% of organizations experienced phishing attempts (Microsoft Work Trend Index report)
08
In 2023, global IT spending growth was projected at 5.9% (Gartner IT spending forecast)
09
Worldwide IT spending reached $4.5 trillion in 2022 (Gartner)
10
Global fintech investments were $210.7 billion in 2021 (CB Insights)
11
Global fintech investments were $57.9 billion in 2020 (CB Insights)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Across these reports, social manipulation and human factors dominate incident patterns, with Verizon noting that social engineering made up 68% of breaches in 2022 and 83% involved a human element, while phishing drove 36% of incidents in the 2023 DBIR.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics6 stats
01
The average cost of a data breach in the US was $9.05 million in 2020 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach report)
02
The average cost of a data breach globally was $4.24 million in 2021 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach report)
03
Kubernetes improved workload deployment success rate by 26% in a benchmark (CNCF case study metric)
04
ITU defined IMT-2020 target peak data rate of 20 Gbps for downlink
05
IMT-2020 target peak data rate for uplink was 10 Gbps (ITU)
06
5G target latency was 1 ms for air interface (ITU IMT-2020)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across cybersecurity and modern networking, the stakes are clear and rising, with data breaches averaging $9.05 million in the US in 2020 and global breaches $4.24 million in 2021, while next generation networks target up to 20 Gbps downlink and just 1 ms air interface latency under IMT-2020.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis9 stats
01
Average cost of a data breach was $4.35 million in 2022 (IBM Security Cost of a Data Breach report)
02
Average cost of a data breach was $4.24 million in 2021 (IBM Security Cost of a Data Breach report)
03
The average cost of a ransomware attack was $4.62 million in 2019 (IBM/Ponemon studies)
04
IBM estimated average ransomware demand was $1.5 million in 2020 (IBM)
05
The global cost of cybercrime was estimated at $6 trillion in 2021 (McAfee/FBI estimates cited)
06
Global healthcare spending was $8.3 trillion in 2020 (WHO Global health expenditure database/World Bank data)
07
Global healthcare spending reached $9.0 trillion in 2022 (WHO or World Bank estimates)
08
Renewable energy investment reached $366.9 billion in 2020 (IRENA market update)
09
Investment in renewable energy and grid reached €1.3 trillion in 2021 (IRENA/analysis)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Across these years, the financial impact of cyber risk and mitigation stands out as ransomware averaging $4.62 million in 2019 and data breaches averaging around $4.35 million in 2022, while cybercrime was estimated at $6 trillion in 2021 compared with rising renewable energy investment to $366.9 billion in 2020 and $1.3 trillion in 2021.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Felix Zimmermann. (2026, February 13). Interesting Facts About Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/interesting-facts-about-statistics
MLA
Felix Zimmermann. "Interesting Facts About Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/interesting-facts-about-statistics.
Chicago
Felix Zimmermann. 2026. "Interesting Facts About Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/interesting-facts-about-statistics.
Sources & references
46 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+14 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)