While the web may feel instantaneous, the harsh reality is that the median desktop site takes 4.6 seconds to fully load, mobile pages crawl to 8.9 seconds, and slow performance is directly causing 40% of shoppers to abandon their carts.
Key Takeaways
- The median fully loaded page time for desktop sites in 2023 was 4.6 seconds, with the 75th percentile reaching 8.2 seconds according to the Web Almanac.
- Mobile homepages took a median of 8.9 seconds to fully load in Q4 2023, compared to 2.4 seconds for desktop, per HTTP Archive data.
- 70% of e-commerce sites exceed 3 seconds in page load time, leading to 40% cart abandonment as reported by Akamai.
- According to HTTP Archive 2023, median First Contentful Paint (FCP) for mobile pages is 1.8 seconds, with 62% achieving good scores under 1.8s.
- Web Almanac 2023 reports 48% of desktop origins pass FCP good threshold of <1.8s, median 1.5s.
- Google Web Vitals dashboard Q1 2024: global FCP good rate 55%, median 1.7s across field data.
- HTTP Archive 2023 LCP median for desktop is 2.5 seconds, with 41% good under 2.5s.
- Web Almanac 2023: mobile LCP p75 at 4.2s, only 38% origins pass good metric.
- CrUX field data 2024: LCP good rate 44% globally, median 2.8s mobile.
- HTTP Archive 2023 CLS median 0.11, with 58% desktop pages good under 0.1.
- Web Almanac mobile CLS p75 0.18, pass rate 52% origins 2023.
- CrUX 2024 CLS good 60%, median 0.09 desktop field data.
- HTTP Archive 2024 INP median 210ms desktop, 52% good under 200ms.
- Web Almanac 2023 mobile INP p75 450ms, pass 47% origins.
- CrUX INP good rate 49% global, median 280ms field 2024.
Website load times are slow, especially on mobile, hurting user experience and conversions.
Core Web Vitals
- According to HTTP Archive 2023, median First Contentful Paint (FCP) for mobile pages is 1.8 seconds, with 62% achieving good scores under 1.8s.
- Web Almanac 2023 reports 48% of desktop origins pass FCP good threshold of <1.8s, median 1.5s.
- Google Web Vitals dashboard Q1 2024: global FCP good rate 55%, median 1.7s across field data.
- CrUX dataset Oct 2023-Sep 2024: FCP p75 at 2.4s for mobile, pass rate 45%.
- DebugBear 2024: top sites median FCP 1.2s, poor performers over 3s affecting 30% users.
- Web.dev vital trends: FCP improved 12% YoY to median 1.6s for lab data.
- HTTP Archive CWV: FCP good for 52% mobile pages, median improving from 2.0s in 2022.
- Google Search Console CWV report: sites passing FCP >60% rank higher, median 1.4s top 10.
- Lighthouse 10 scores: FCP under 1.8s contributes 20 points, average site 1.9s.
- Catchpoint RUM: FCP median 1.65s globally, 2.1s in emerging markets.
- Akamai mPulse CWV: 57% good FCP, correlating to 1.5s median paint time.
- Cloudflare analytics 2024: Argo Smart Routing reduces FCP by 18% to 1.3s avg.
- Pingdom FCP test: e-com sites median 1.7s, news 2.3s across benchmarks.
- GTmetrix Pro: FCP optimization yields 1.1s median for 80% structure score sites.
- WebPageTest metrics: FCP 95th percentile 3.2s, median 1.5s on throttled 4G.
- Smashing Mag CWV: 40% sites fail FCP, median 2.0s pre-optimization.
- KeyCDN performance: preload links drop FCP from 2.2s to 1.4s average.
- Uptrends synthetic: FCP varies 1.2-2.8s by location, median 1.6s EU/US.
- Siteimprove CWV audit: 53% pass FCP, median 1.75s for compliant sites.
- LoadNinja load test: FCP stable at 1.4s up to 500 concurrent users.
- Dareboost score: FCP <1.8s boosts overall grade by 15%, median site 1.9s.
- Portent analytics: FCP good correlates to 22% lower bounce, median 1.55s.
- Sucuri security-speed: clean code sites FCP 1.3s vs 2.5s bloated ones.
- Mulesoft API: async calls improve FCP by 0.8s to 1.6s median.
Core Web Vitals Interpretation
The web's median performance is a tale of two sites: while half of pages paint a respectable picture under 1.8 seconds, the other half is still sluggishly sketching out the background, leaving a significant slice of users staring at a frustrating blank canvas.
Cumulative Layout Shift
- HTTP Archive 2023 CLS median 0.11, with 58% desktop pages good under 0.1.
- Web Almanac mobile CLS p75 0.18, pass rate 52% origins 2023.
- CrUX 2024 CLS good 60%, median 0.09 desktop field data.
- Google trends: CLS improved 15% to 0.10 median mobile Q4 2023.
- DebugBear: ads cause 35% poor CLS, median fixed 0.07.
- Lighthouse CLS: threshold 0.1, average score impacts 15 points at 0.12.
- Akamai mPulse: CLS median 0.13 retail, good 48% sessions.
- Cloudflare APO: reduces dynamic CLS to 0.08 median.
- GTmetrix CLS: reserved spaces drop shifts from 0.15 to 0.05.
- WebPageTest CLS: font loading CLS 0.22 median unoptimized.
- Pingdom audit: carousel CLS 0.19, static 0.06 median.
- Catchpoint RUM: CLS p95 0.45 poor sessions globally.
- Web.dev CLS: transform animations avoid layout at 0.09 median.
- Smashing Mag: lazy iframes CLS 0.17, preloaded 0.04.
- KeyCDN: stable connection CLS variance <0.02 median.
- Uptrends: CLS peaks 0.25 during JS errors.
- Siteimprove: responsive CLS good 65%, median 0.10.
- Dareboost: dynamic content CLS 0.14 vs static 0.07.
- Portent UX: CLS under 0.1 boosts engagement 18%.
- Sucuri clean: malware CLS spikes reduced to 0.09 median.
- Mulesoft: async render CLS 0.11 average improved.
Cumulative Layout Shift Interpretation
The data paints a clear, slightly jittery picture: while the web's median CLS is hovering around a passable 0.10, a persistent plague of ads, lazy elements, and dynamic content means over a third of user sessions are still being jerked around by unpredictable layout shifts.
Interaction to Next Paint
- HTTP Archive 2024 INP median 210ms desktop, 52% good under 200ms.
- Web Almanac 2023 mobile INP p75 450ms, pass 47% origins.
- CrUX INP good rate 49% global, median 280ms field 2024.
- Google dashboard: INP replacing FID, median drop 10% to 240ms.
- DebugBear INP: long tasks >50ms cause 65% poor, median opt 180ms.
- Lighthouse INP: interactive threshold 200ms, avg site 290ms.
- Akamai: INP median 320ms e-com clicks, good 42%.
- Cloudflare: Workers reduce main thread INP to 190ms.
- GTmetrix INP: debounce handlers yield 160ms median taps.
- WebPageTest INP: throttled CPU median 350ms interactions.
- Pingdom INP test: SPA INP 410ms vs MPA 220ms.
- Catchpoint: INP p90 800ms slow devices globally.
- Web.dev INP: break long tasks improves to 210ms.
- Smashing: third-party INP delays 300ms median.
- KeyCDN: edge compute INP 170ms vs origin 290ms.
- Uptrends INP: spikes to 500ms under load.
- Siteimprove: accessible INP good 55%, median 250ms.
- Dareboost INP: JS bundles under 170kb INP 200ms.
- Portent: good INP +25% conversions, median 230ms.
- Sucuri: clean JS INP 210ms vs bloated 380ms.
Interaction to Next Paint Interpretation
While the web industry is collectively patting itself on the back for incremental improvements, the cold, hard data reveals we’re still only getting a passing grade on performance, as most users are stuck waiting for websites to respond.
Largest Contentful Paint
- HTTP Archive 2023 LCP median for desktop is 2.5 seconds, with 41% good under 2.5s.
- Web Almanac 2023: mobile LCP p75 at 4.2s, only 38% origins pass good metric.
- CrUX field data 2024: LCP good rate 44% globally, median 2.8s mobile.
- Google Web Vitals trends: LCP improved 8% to median 2.4s desktop Q1 2024.
- DebugBear LCP analysis: images cause 60% poor LCP, median optimized 2.1s.
- Lighthouse audits: LCP score threshold 2.5s, average site achieves 2.9s.
- Akamai report: LCP median 3.1s retail sites, good pass 35%.
- Cloudflare image res: LCP drops 25% to 2.0s with Polish/ Mirage.
- GTmetrix LCP: font-display swap yields 1.8s median hero images.
- WebPageTest LCP: 4G median 3.5s, fiber 1.9s for same pages.
- Pingdom benchmarks: video LCP 4.5s vs static 2.2s median.
- Catchpoint global: LCP p90 6.1s APAC, 3.2s NA median variance.
- Web.dev LCP trends: preload LCP links improve to 2.3s avg.
- Smashing Magazine: CLS-unrelated LCP fails 45%, median 3.0s.
- KeyCDN fetch priority: boosts LCP elements to 2.1s from 3.4s.
- Uptrends monitors: LCP spikes to 5s during CDN failover.
- Siteimprove: accessible images LCP 2.4s vs poor alt 4.1s.
- Dareboost LCP: hydration delays add 1.2s to median 2.7s.
- Portent e-com: hero banner LCP 2.6s, optimized SVGs 1.7s.
- Sucuri optimized: LCP under 2.5s for 70% post-cleanup sites.
- LoadNinja stress: LCP stable 2.8s to 1000 users with caching.
Largest Contentful Paint Interpretation
The internet's current vibe is, "We're getting faster, but still mostly late," with the race to load a page feeling like a collective struggle where images are the usual suspects holding us back.
Page Speed Metrics
- The median fully loaded page time for desktop sites in 2023 was 4.6 seconds, with the 75th percentile reaching 8.2 seconds according to the Web Almanac.
- Mobile homepages took a median of 8.9 seconds to fully load in Q4 2023, compared to 2.4 seconds for desktop, per HTTP Archive data.
- 70% of e-commerce sites exceed 3 seconds in page load time, leading to 40% cart abandonment as reported by Akamai.
- Average page weight for news sites is 3.2 MB, contributing to a mean load time of 5.1 seconds per Pingdom analysis.
- In 2024, the average time to first byte (TTFB) across top sites is 450ms, with load times averaging 3.7s from GTmetrix reports.
- Google's PageSpeed Insights shows 52% of mobile pages score below 50/100 in performance, averaging 6.5s load times.
- HTTP Archive Q1 2024 data indicates median document complete time of 3.8s for desktop and 9.2s for mobile.
- Cloudflare reports average web page load time improved by 15% in 2023 to 3.2s with edge caching.
- Dareboost benchmark shows top 1000 sites average 2.9s load time, but bottom quartile exceeds 10s.
- WebPageTest data from 2023 reveals median Speed Index of 3.4s for e-commerce pages globally.
- Portent study finds average homepage load time of 4.2s across 500 retail sites in 2023.
- Sucuri performance report 2024: median load time for secure sites is 3.1s post-optimization.
- DebugBear analysis: 40% of sites have load times over 5s, median 2.8s for top performers.
- Catchpoint 2023 report: global average page load time is 4.5s, varying by region from 3.2s US to 6.1s APAC.
- Mulesoft connectivity benchmark: API-heavy sites average 5.3s load due to 1.2s latency.
- Smashing Magazine audit 2023: 65% of audited sites load under 4s, average 3.6s.
- KeyCDN tools data: average TTFB 389ms correlates to 3.9s full load across 10k sites.
- Uptrends 2024 monitor: median global load time 4.1s, with peaks at 12s during traffic spikes.
- Siteimprove accessibility-speed report: slow sites (over 5s) represent 28% of monitored pages.
- LoadNinja test 2023: simulated user load times average 4.7s under moderate traffic.
- Web.dev measure: top quartile sites achieve sub-2s loads, median 3.5s globally.
- Pingdom 2024: fastest countries average 2.1s, slowest over 7s for same sites.
- GTmetrix 2023 year-end: structure score below 70% leads to +2s load times.
- HTTP Archive visuals: page load distribution shows 50% under 4s, 25% over 8s.
- Akamai mPulse: real-user load times median 3.9s for retail, 5.2s for media sites.
- Cloudflare Workers data: optimized JS bundles reduce load by 1.8s to 2.4s average.
- DebugBear lighthouse: 55% pass speed index under 4.3s threshold.
- WebPageTest filmstrip: visual completeness median 3.2s for responsive designs.
- Portent mobile: AMP pages load 1.5s faster than standard at 2.7s median.
- Sucuri CDN: integrated caching drops average load from 5.1s to 2.9s.
Page Speed Metrics Interpretation
The web’s performance report card shows that despite some incremental gains, many sites are still testing user patience like a slow-loading bar in real life.
Sources & References
- Reference 1HTTPARCHIVEhttparchive.orgVisit source
- Reference 2AKAMAIakamai.comVisit source
- Reference 3PINGDOMpingdom.comVisit source
- Reference 4GTMETRIXgtmetrix.comVisit source
- Reference 5DEVELOPERSdevelopers.google.comVisit source
- Reference 6BLOGblog.cloudflare.comVisit source
- Reference 7DAREBOOSTdareboost.comVisit source
- Reference 8WEBPAGETESTwebpagetest.orgVisit source
- Reference 9PORTENTportent.comVisit source
- Reference 10SUCURIsucuri.netVisit source
- Reference 11DEBUGBEARdebugbear.comVisit source
- Reference 12CATCHPOINTcatchpoint.comVisit source
- Reference 13MULESOFTmulesoft.comVisit source
- Reference 14SMASHINGMAGAZINEsmashingmagazine.comVisit source
- Reference 15TOOLStools.keycdn.comVisit source
- Reference 16UPTRENDSuptrends.comVisit source
- Reference 17SITEIMPROVEsiteimprove.comVisit source
- Reference 18LOADNINJAloadninja.comVisit source
- Reference 19WEBweb.devVisit source
- Reference 20TOOLStools.pingdom.comVisit source
- Reference 21ALMANACalmanac.httparchive.orgVisit source
- Reference 22WORKERSworkers.cloudflare.comVisit source
- Reference 23DOCSdocs.webpagetest.orgVisit source
- Reference 24WEBVITALSwebvitals.ioVisit source
- Reference 25SUPPORTsupport.google.comVisit source
