Picture our collective digital heartbeat: global internet traffic swelled to a staggering 3,300 exabytes in 2023, a tidal wave of data driven by the insatiable human demand for video, connection, and information.
Key Takeaways
- Global IP traffic averaged 3,300 exabytes (EB) annually in 2023, marking a 20% increase from 2022
- Fixed broadband traffic accounted for 65% of global consumer IP traffic in 2023, totaling over 2,100 EB per year
- Mobile data traffic reached 927 EB globally in 2023, growing 27% year-over-year
- North America generated 25% of global internet traffic in 2023, equating to 825 EB annually
- Asia-Pacific region accounted for 52% of worldwide internet traffic in 2023, totaling 1,716 EB per year
- Europe contributed 18% of global IP traffic in 2023, around 594 EB annually
- Smartphones generated 60% of global mobile traffic in 2023, totaling 556 EB annually
- Tablets accounted for 8% of total IP traffic worldwide in 2023, 264 EB
- PCs and laptops drove 32% of fixed traffic, 672 EB globally in 2023
- Video accounted for 82% of all internet traffic globally in 2023
- HTTP media streaming (YouTube/Netflix) was 45% of fixed traffic downstream in 2023
- Gaming traffic reached 8% of total internet traffic, 264 EB in 2023
- Global internet traffic grew 25% YoY from 2022 to 2023, reaching 3,300 EB annually
- Mobile traffic expected to grow 30% annually through 2025 to 2,000 EB
- Video traffic projected to be 82% of all consumer traffic by 2025
Video streaming drives massive annual internet traffic growth worldwide.
Content and Application Traffic
- Video accounted for 82% of all internet traffic globally in 2023
- HTTP media streaming (YouTube/Netflix) was 45% of fixed traffic downstream in 2023
- Gaming traffic reached 8% of total internet traffic, 264 EB in 2023
- Social media platforms generated 12% of upstream traffic globally in 2023
- File sharing (BitTorrent) accounted for 5% of traffic, 165 EB in 2023
- Web browsing (HTTPS) was 10% of total traffic volumes in 2023
- Live video streaming like Twitch grew to 4% share, 132 EB in 2023
- Cloud storage sync (Dropbox/Google Drive) 3% of traffic, 99 EB 2023
- VoIP and messaging apps 2% upstream, 66 EB globally 2023
- Email traffic remained steady at 1.5% of total, 49.5 EB in 2023
- VPN traffic surged 20% to 150 EB amid privacy concerns 2023
- E-commerce downloads 6% during peaks like Black Friday 2023
- Pornography sites captured 10% of web traffic in 2023
- Remote work apps (Zoom/Teams) 7% peak during day 2023
- Music streaming (Spotify) 3% of traffic, 99 EB annually 2023
- Ads and trackers 4% overhead traffic globally 2023
- Cryptocurrency mining traffic 1% but high bandwidth 33 EB 2023
- Online education platforms 2.5% post-pandemic 82.5 EB 2023
- Sports streaming events peaked at 15% traffic spikes 2023
- News websites 1% steady traffic 33 EB daily reads 2023
- P2P video calls 5% mobile upstream 46.35 EB 2023
- Software updates/downloads 9% overnight traffic 297 EB 2023
- Metaverse and VR content 0.5% emerging 16.5 EB 2023
- Gambling sites 2% high-value traffic 66 EB 2023
- Health apps downloads 1.2% fitness boom 39.6 EB 2023
- Real-time bidding ad auctions 0.8% 26.4 EB latency-sensitive 2023
- IoT firmware updates 1.8% device mgmt 59.4 EB 2023
Content and Application Traffic Interpretation
The global internet in 2023 can be summarized as a planet of people mostly watching and streaming video, occasionally pausing only to work, game, or argue on social media.
Device and User Type Breakdown
- Smartphones generated 60% of global mobile traffic in 2023, totaling 556 EB annually
- Tablets accounted for 8% of total IP traffic worldwide in 2023, 264 EB
- PCs and laptops drove 32% of fixed traffic, 672 EB globally in 2023
- Connected TVs consumed 15% of residential traffic, 495 EB in 2023
- IoT devices like smart home gadgets generated 200 EB traffic in 2023
- Mobile phones dominated consumer traffic at 55%, 513 EB in 2023
- Gaming consoles contributed 5% of household traffic, 165 EB in 2023
- Wearables generated 50 EB of low-bandwidth traffic in 2023
- Enterprise laptops/desktops used 40% of business traffic, 330 EB in 2023
- Smartphones in emerging markets drove 70% mobile growth to 300 EB in 2023
- 4K streaming TVs peaked at 20% of video traffic from devices in 2023
- Laptops saw 10% decline in traffic share to 25% in 2023
- Autonomous vehicles projected to add 50 EB device traffic by 2025
- Kids' devices (tablets/phones) generated 100 EB family traffic in 2023
- AR/VR headsets consumed 30 EB immersive traffic in 2023
- Desktop computers held 20% enterprise share, 165 EB in 2023
- Feature phones still 5% in low-income areas, 46 EB traffic 2023
- Smart speakers added 20 EB voice traffic globally 2023
- E-readers and similar low-data devices 10 EB in 2023
- Medical IoT devices generated 40 EB healthcare traffic 2023
- Drones contributed 15 EB aerial traffic data in 2023
- POS terminals processed 80 EB retail traffic 2023
- Fitness trackers uploaded 25 EB health data 2023
- Smart fridges and appliances 30 EB home IoT 2023
- Video doorbells streamed 12 EB security traffic 2023
- Traffic cameras and sensors added 60 EB urban IoT 2023
Device and User Type Breakdown Interpretation
Despite our collective digital sprawl across countless screens and gadgets, it's still a small world after all—just one held together by an unfathomable amount of data.
Global Traffic Statistics
- Global IP traffic averaged 3,300 exabytes (EB) annually in 2023, marking a 20% increase from 2022
- Fixed broadband traffic accounted for 65% of global consumer IP traffic in 2023, totaling over 2,100 EB per year
- Mobile data traffic reached 927 EB globally in 2023, growing 27% year-over-year
- Total internet traffic in Q4 2023 hit 122 EB per month worldwide
- Video streaming comprised 82% of global internet traffic in 2023
- Global internet traffic during peak hours in 2023 averaged 4.5 Tbps per 100 users
- Internet traffic from IoT devices contributed 15% to global totals in 2023, equating to 495 EB annually
- Worldwide peak internet usage traffic surged 25% during COVID-19 peaks to 150 EB/month in 2021
- Global managed IP traffic grew to 2.6 ZB annually by 2022
- Internet traffic backbone utilization averaged 45% globally in 2023
- Total global internet traffic in 2022 exceeded 5,000 EB, driven by video and gaming
- Hypergiant networks handled 70% of global internet traffic in 2023, totaling 2,310 EB
- Global DDoS attacks amplified traffic to 3.8 TBps peak in 2023
- Internet traffic per capita reached 2.5 GB per day globally in 2023
- Wired internet traffic dominated with 55% share, 1,815 EB in 2023
- Global Wi-Fi traffic grew 18% to 1,200 EB in 2023
- Peak global traffic hours saw 25% higher volumes, averaging 140 EB/month in 2023
- Internet exchange points (IXPs) routed 12% of global traffic, 396 EB in 2023
- Global content delivery networks (CDNs) served 60% of traffic, 1,980 EB annually in 2023
- Satellite internet contributed 2% to global traffic, 66 EB in 2023
- Global enterprise traffic was 25% of total IP traffic, 825 EB in 2023
- Traffic encryption rate hit 95% of global HTTPS traffic in 2023
- Global video-on-demand traffic peaked at 90% during evenings
- Internet traffic from metaverse applications reached 50 EB globally in 2023
- Global 5G traffic contributed 10% of mobile, 92.7 EB in 2023
- Peak global traffic during New Year's Eve 2023 was 160 EB/month
- Global IPv6 traffic adoption reached 40% of total in 2023
- Underwater cables carried 99% of international data traffic
- Global gaming traffic averaged 100 EB annually in 2023
- Total global internet traffic forecast for 2025 is 9,000 EB annually
Global Traffic Statistics Interpretation
Our insatiable hunger for cat videos and doom-scrolling has swelled the internet's arteries to a staggering 3,300 exabytes a year, proving that while humanity may not agree on much, we are universally united in our quest to stream absolutely everything.
Growth and Projections
- Global internet traffic grew 25% YoY from 2022 to 2023, reaching 3,300 EB annually
- Mobile traffic expected to grow 30% annually through 2025 to 2,000 EB
- Video traffic projected to be 82% of all consumer traffic by 2025
- Global IP traffic to triple by 2027 from 2023 levels to 9,900 EB
- Fixed broadband growth slowed to 12% YoY in 2023 after 20% in 2022
- 5G expected to drive 50% of mobile traffic growth to 2028
- IoT traffic to surge 4x to 2,000 EB by 2025 from 2023
- Traffic during pandemic grew 40% in 2020, stabilizing at 20% post-2021
- Asia-Pacific traffic growth at 28% YoY highest globally in 2023
- Peak traffic hours increased 15% in duration due to remote work 2023
- Gaming traffic to double to 500 EB by 2025 from 2023 levels
- IPv6 adoption projected to hit 60% of traffic by 2025
- Edge computing to reduce latency, boosting traffic 25% by 2025
- Metaverse traffic forecast 200 EB annually by 2025
- DDoS attack volumes grew 50% YoY to 4 TBps peaks in 2023
- Wi-Fi 6/7 to enable 35% traffic increase on wireless by 2025
- Social video short-form like TikTok grew 40% to 300 EB in 2023
- Global users projected to drive traffic to 4 GB per capita daily by 2025
- Enterprise SaaS traffic up 22% YoY to 1,000 EB by 2025 forecast
- Live commerce streaming to add 100 EB traffic growth by 2025
- Quantum-safe encryption to minimally impact growth at 1% overhead by 2025
- AR shopping apps traffic double to 50 EB annually by 2025
- Satellite broadband like Starlink to 5% global share by 2027, 500 EB
- AI data center traffic to explode 10x to 2,000 EB by 2025
- Emerging market mobile growth 35% YoY through 2025
- 8K video adoption to add 20% video traffic by 2027
- Cloud gaming to 10% of gaming traffic by 2025, 50 EB
- Web3 and NFT traffic niche growth 5x to 20 EB by 2025
- Sustainable traffic mgmt to curb 10% wasteful growth by 2030
Growth and Projections Interpretation
We are collectively building a world where our digital exhaust, fueled by mobile video, AI, and the persistent human urge to share, stream, and connect, threatens to outpace our very ability to carry it, secure it, and power it responsibly.
Regional Traffic Distribution
- North America generated 25% of global internet traffic in 2023, equating to 825 EB annually
- Asia-Pacific region accounted for 52% of worldwide internet traffic in 2023, totaling 1,716 EB per year
- Europe contributed 18% of global IP traffic in 2023, around 594 EB annually
- Latin America internet traffic grew 30% YoY to 200 EB in 2023
- Middle East and Africa region saw 8% share of global traffic, 264 EB in 2023
- United States alone generated 18% of global traffic, 594 EB in 2023
- China accounted for 30% of Asia-Pacific traffic, 515 EB in 2023
- India internet traffic reached 150 EB annually in 2023, 25% YoY growth
- Brazil's internet traffic was 80 EB in 2023, leading Latin America
- Germany generated 45 EB of European traffic in 2023
- Japan contributed 120 EB to Asia-Pacific traffic in 2023
- UK internet traffic hit 50 EB annually in 2023
- South Korea had the highest per capita traffic in Asia at 3 GB/day in 2023
- Australia generated 35 EB of traffic in 2023
- Russia accounted for 40 EB in Europe/CIS region in 2023
- Nigeria's mobile traffic exploded to 25 EB in Africa 2023
- France internet traffic reached 38 EB in 2023
- Indonesia traffic grew to 100 EB in Southeast Asia 2023
- Canada contributed 30 EB to North American traffic in 2023
- Saudi Arabia generated 20 EB in Middle East 2023
- Mexico traffic was 50 EB, leading Latin America growth in 2023
- Italy internet traffic hit 28 EB in Southern Europe 2023
- Philippines saw 40 EB traffic surge in 2023
- South Africa contributed 15 EB to African totals in 2023
- Spain generated 25 EB in Western Europe 2023
- Vietnam traffic reached 30 EB annually in 2023
- Turkey accounted for 22 EB in Europe/MENA 2023
- Argentina traffic was 18 EB in South America 2023
- Thailand generated 25 EB in Southeast Asia 2023
- Egypt contributed 12 EB to MENA/Africa traffic in 2023
Regional Traffic Distribution Interpretation
Despite commanding over half the world's digital chatter, the Asia-Pacific region is still waiting for the rest of us to pick up the internet's version of the dinner check.
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