Updated: Oct 01, 2024
It's faster than you think that people have shifted from computers to mobiles. The number of websites designed to work better on phones and tablets is increasing. Therefore, websites that load faster and user friendly designs ensure that users have a smooth experience while visiting websites.
Since the mobile phone has become one of the key factors of worldwide mobile internet traffic, let’s look into some fascinating stats about it that you need to know.
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Infographic by GO Gulf Website Design Company Abu Dhabi
Over the years, mobile internet traffic has been steadily on the rise, showing high increases and small declines in usage for each of the quarters. The figures below outline how mobile devices have become so important for us to access the internet today. Let's take a look at how mobile internet traffic has changed from the first quarter of each year.
Quarter | Share | Annual Change |
1st Quarter - 2015 | 31.16% | - |
1st Quarter - 2016 | 39.47% | ↑ 26.67% |
1st Quarter - 2017 | 50.03% | ↑ 26.75% |
1st Quarter - 2018 | 51.77% | ↑ 3.48% |
1st Quarter - 2019 | 48.71% | ↓ 5.91% |
1st Quarter - 2020 | 51.92% | ↑ 6.59% |
1st Quarter - 2021 | 54.8% | ↑ 5.55% |
1st Quarter - 2022 | 59.66% | ↑ 4.86% |
1st Quarter - 2023 | 60.89% | ↑ 1.23% |
1st Quarter - 2024 | 61.21% | ↓ 1.88% |
Majority of the devices that bring the users online are mobile phones. No matter is its smartphone or smart home appliances, all have a role to connect us to Internet. Here are internet users by devices globally.
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Device | Share of Users |
Mobile phone (any) | 92.3% |
Laptop or desktop (any) | 65.6% |
Smartphone | 91% |
Feature phone | 5.2% |
Tablet device | 27.3% |
Own laptop or desktop | 59.1% |
Work laptop or desktop | 28.6% |
Connected television | 31.9% |
Smart home device | 15.4% |
Games console | 12.7% |
The increase in mobile internet data use has shown an acceleration in the last few years. Accounting for both uploads and downloads, the average monthly traffic in exabytes of the respective quarters continues to grow steadily. Below are some average monthly mobile network data traffic figures from various quarters of the years that illustrate this growth.
Here’s the updated table with each year broken down into its four quarters, following the original data structure:
Quarter (Year) | Monthly Average Global Mobile Network Data Traffic in Exabytes (Upload and Download) |
1st Quarter - 2017 | 9.68 EB |
2nd Quarter - 2017 | 10.63 EB |
3rd Quarter - 2017 | 11.69 EB |
4th Quarter - 2017 | 13.60 EB |
1st Quarter - 2018 | 15.94 EB |
2nd Quarter - 2018 | 18.37 EB |
3rd Quarter - 2018 | 21.78 EB |
4th Quarter - 2018 | 26.54 EB |
1st Quarter - 2019 | 29.02 EB |
2nd Quarter - 2019 | 32.66 EB |
3rd Quarter - 2019 | 36.49 EB |
4th Quarter - 2019 | 39.56 EB |
1st Quarter - 2020 | 45.16 EB |
2nd Quarter - 2020 | 50.03 EB |
3rd Quarter - 2020 | 54.79 EB |
4th Quarter - 2020 | 58.44 EB |
1st Quarter - 2021 | 66.14 EB |
2nd Quarter - 2021 | 72.20 EB |
3rd Quarter - 2021 | 77.81 EB |
4th Quarter - 2021 | 84.16 EB |
1st Quarter - 2022 | 92.75 EB |
2nd Quarter - 2022 | 100.42 EB |
3rd Quarter - 2022 | 107.58 EB |
4th Quarter - 2022 | 118.21 EB |
1st Quarter - 2023 | 126.00 EB |
2nd Quarter - 2023 | 133.86 EB |
3rd Quarter - 2023 | 143.14 EB |
While Android is leading, with Apple and other brands are at the top of the list as well. Some brands are just incredible in growth. Below are rankings of device types based on their share of mobile internet traffic and how they've changed from the previous year.
Rank | Device Type | Share | Change Over Previous Year |
1 | Android | 70.48% | -2.6% |
2 | Apple | 28.8% | +6.7% |
3 | Samsung | 0.37% | +2.8% |
4 | KAI | 0.14% | +27.3% |
5 | Other | 0.21% | +16.7% |
Mobile internet traffic has increased immensely. It started from less than 6% in 2011 and has remained steadily high, indicating that people are increasingly depending on mobile devices for accessing the internet. The share of mobile internet traffic is as shown below year after year, which tracks upward.
Year | Mobile Internet Traffic |
2011 | 6.09% |
2012 | 10.88% |
2013 | 17.02% |
2014 | 28.97% |
2015 | 35.20% |
2016 | 43.66% |
2017 | 51.58% |
2018 | 50.81% |
2019 | 50.43% |
2020 | 51.61% |
2021 | 55.01% |
2022 | 58.37% |
2023 | 60.67% |
2024 | 63.83% |
Mobile internet use differs significantly across various regions worldwide. There are some places where mobile devices are more commonly used for internet access, and there are places where it is less as compare to others. The table below shows the percentage of mobile internet traffic for various regions, giving a clear picture of how mobile devices are used globally.
Rank | Region | Share of Mobile Internet Traffic | Difference to Global Average |
#1 | Africa | 69.13% | + 12.24% |
#2 | Asia | 65.2% | + 8.31% |
- | Global | 56.89% | - |
#3 | South America | 51.47% | - 5.42% |
#4 | Europe | 49.19% | - 7.7% |
#5 | North America | 48.49% | - 8.4% |
#6 | Oceania | 39.51% | - 17.38% |
People use their mobile for a number of things every day. From gaming and music to shopping and banking, mobile internet traffic it helps us in what we do online. The table below shows how much each activity contributes to overall mobile internet usage, highlighting the most popular ways we engage with the internet.
Activity | Share |
Gaming | 68% |
Music | 67% |
social media | 63% |
Streaming videos, TV, or film | 61% |
Paid for something bought online | 47% |
Bank usage | 47% |
Shopping products | 42% |
Booked food delivery | 41% |
Work-related | 38% |
Sent money to a friend | 35% |
Paid for something using Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc. | 33% |
Read a magazine or newspaper | 33% |
Used a medical or fitness service | 25% |
Booked a taxi ride | 22% |
Controlled a smart device | 20% |
Other | 3% |