The total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally is forecast to increase rapidly. While it was estimated at ***** zettabytes in 2025, the forecast for 2029 stands at ***** zettabytes. Thus, global data generation will triple between 2025 and 2029. Data creation has been expanding continuously over the past decade. In 2020, the growth was higher than previously expected, caused by the increased demand due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as more people worked and learned from home and used home entertainment options more often.

The total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally is forecast to increase rapidly, reaching 149 zettabytes in 2024. Over the next five years up to 2028, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 394 zettabytes. In 2020, the amount of data created and replicated reached a new high. The growth was higher than previously expected, caused by the increased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as more people worked and learned from home and used home entertainment options more often. Storage capacity also growing Only a small percentage of this newly created data is kept though, as just 2 percent of the data produced and consumed in 2020 was saved and retained into 2021. In line with the strong growth of the data volume, the installed base of storage capacity is forecast to increase, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 19.2 percent over the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. In 2020, the installed base of storage capacity reached 6.7 zettabytes.

Global mobile data usage was estimated at over ******* petabytes in 2022, with forecasts placing 2027 usage at over ******* petabytes. Mobile handsets accounted for the majority of data use in 2022, followed by cellular internet of things (IoT) devices.

As of March 2025, there were a reported 5,426 data centers in the United States, the most of any country worldwide. A further 529 were located in Germany, while 523 were located in the United Kingdom. What is a data center? A data center is a network of computing and storage resources that enables the delivery of shared software applications and data. These facilities can house large amounts of critical and important data, and therefore are vital to the daily functions of companies and consumers alike. As a result, whether it is a cloud, colocation, or managed service, data center real estate will have increasing importance worldwide. Hyperscale data centers In the past, data centers were highly controlled physical infrastructures, but the cloud has since changed that model. A cloud data service is a remote version of a data center – located somewhere away from a company's physical premises. Cloud IT infrastructure spending has grown and is forecast to rise further in the coming years. The evolution of technology, along with the rapid growth in demand for data across the globe, is largely driven by the leading hyperscale data center providers.

From 2020 to 2022, the total enterprise data volume will go from approximately ************ (PB) to **** petabytes. This is a **** percent average annual growth over these two years. It is worth noting that internally managed data centers will continue to be the locations in which most of the data will be stored.

The amount of global healthcare data is expected to increase dramatically by the year 2020. Despite the growing amount of data, there is not enough storage space to accommodate the data being generated. It is projected that by 2020 there will be 985 exabytes of storage available for healthcare data but there will be 2,314 exabytes of healthcare data generated.

The ratio of unique data to replicated cata is expected to slowly migrate from *** to **** from 2020 to 2024. Meanwhile, the amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed worldwide is expected to grow from around ** zettabytes (ZB) in 2020 to around *** ZB in 2024.

In 2024, spending on digital transformation (DX) is projected to reach 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars. By 2027, global digital transformation spending is forecast to reach 3.9 trillion U.S. dollars. What is digital transformation? Digital transformation refers to the adoption of digital technology to transform business processes and services from non-digital to digital. This encompasses, among others, moving data to the cloud, using technological devices and tools for communication and collaboration, as well as automating processes. What is driving digital transformation? Digital transformation growth is due to several contributing factors. Among these was COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased the digital transformation tempo in organizations around the globe in 2020 considerably. Although the pandemic is over, working from home among organizations globally has not only remained, but also increased, increasing the drive for digital transformation. Other contributing causes include customer demand and the need to be on par with competitors. Overall, utilizing technologies for digital transformation render organizations more agile in responding to changing markets and enhance innovation, thereby making them more resilient.

The population share with internet access in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total *** percentage points. After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the internet penetration is estimated to reach ***** percent and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the population share with internet access of was continuously increasing over the past years.The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population having access to the internet via any means. The shown figures have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics. The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

IT spending worldwide is projected to reach over 5.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2025, over a nine percent increase on 2024 spending. Smaller companies spending a greater share on hardware According to the results of a survey, hardware projects account for a fifth of IT budgets across North America and Europe. Larger companies tend to allocate a smaller share of their budget to hardware projects. Companies employing between one and 99 people allocated 31 percent of the budget to hardware, compared with 29 percent in companies of five thousand people or more. This could be explained by the greater need to spend money on managed services in larger companies. Not all companies can reduce their spending While COVID-19 has the overall effect of reducing IT spending, not all companies will face the same experiences. Setting up employees to comfortably work from home can result in unexpected costs, as can adapting to new operational requirements. In a recent survey of IT buyers, 18 percent of the respondents said they expected their IT budgets to increase in 2020. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

During the fourth quarter 2024, approximately 20.6 million TikTok accounts were removed from the platform due to suspicion of being operated by users under the age of 13. During the last measured period, around 185 million fake accounts were removed from fake accounts removed from TikTok.

Facebook received 73,390 user data requests from federal agencies and courts in the United States during the second half of 2023. The social network produced some user data in 88.84 percent of requests from U.S. federal authorities. The United States accounts for the largest share of Facebook user data requests worldwide.

The revenue is forecast to experience significant growth in all regions in 2029. From the selected regions, the ranking by revenue in the data center market is forecast to be led by the United States with 212.06 billion U.S. dollars. In contrast, the ranking is trailed by the United Kingdom with 23.76 billion U.S. dollars, recording a difference of 188.3 billion U.S. dollars to the United States. Find further statistics on other topics such as a comparison of the revenue in the world and a comparison of the revenue in the United States.The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

How many people use social media?

              Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2024, over five billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to over six billion in 2028.

              Who uses social media?
              Social networking is one of the most popular digital activities worldwide and it is no surprise that social networking penetration across all regions is constantly increasing. As of January 2023, the global social media usage rate stood at 59 percent. This figure is anticipated to grow as lesser developed digital markets catch up with other regions
              when it comes to infrastructure development and the availability of cheap mobile devices. In fact, most of social media’s global growth is driven by the increasing usage of mobile devices. Mobile-first market Eastern Asia topped the global ranking of mobile social networking penetration, followed by established digital powerhouses such as the Americas and Northern Europe.

              How much time do people spend on social media?
              Social media is an integral part of daily internet usage. On average, internet users spend 151 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps, an increase of 40 minutes since 2015. On average, internet users in Latin America had the highest average time spent per day on social media.

              What are the most popular social media platforms?
              Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass one billion registered accounts and currently boasts approximately 2.9 billion monthly active users, making it the most popular social network worldwide. In June 2023, the top social media apps in the Apple App Store included mobile messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram Messenger, as well as the ever-popular app version of Facebook.

Cristiano Ronaldo has one of the most popular Instagram accounts as of April 2024.

              The Portuguese footballer is the most-followed person on the photo sharing app platform with 628 million followers. Instagram's own account was ranked first with roughly 672 million followers.

              How popular is Instagram?

              Instagram is a photo-sharing social networking service that enables users to take pictures and edit them with filters. The platform allows users to post and share their images online and directly with their friends and followers on the social network. The cross-platform app reached one billion monthly active users in mid-2018. In 2020, there were over 114 million Instagram users in the United States and experts project this figure to surpass 127 million users in 2023.

              Who uses Instagram?

              Instagram audiences are predominantly young – recent data states that almost 60 percent of U.S. Instagram users are aged 34 years or younger. Fall 2020 data reveals that Instagram is also one of the most popular social media for teens and one of the social networks with the biggest reach among teens in the United States.

              Celebrity influencers on Instagram
              Many celebrities and athletes are brand spokespeople and generate additional income with social media advertising and sponsored content. Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo ranked first again, as the average media value of one of his Instagram posts was 985,441 U.S. dollars.

The global number of Facebook users was forecast to continuously increase between 2023 and 2027 by in total 391 million users (+14.36 percent). After the fourth consecutive increasing year, the Facebook user base is estimated to reach 3.1 billion users and therefore a new peak in 2027. Notably, the number of Facebook users was continuously increasing over the past years. User figures, shown here regarding the platform Facebook, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period and count multiple accounts by persons only once.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

The market for artificial intelligence grew beyond *** billion U.S. dollars in 2025, a considerable jump of nearly ** billion compared to 2023. This staggering growth is expected to continue, with the market racing past the trillion U.S. dollar mark in 2031. AI demands data Data management remains the most difficult task of AI-related infrastructure. This challenge takes many forms for AI companies. Some require more specific data, while others have difficulty maintaining and organizing the data their enterprise already possesses. Large international bodies like the EU, the US, and China all have limitations on how much data can be stored outside their borders. Together, these bodies pose significant challenges to data-hungry AI companies. AI could boost productivity growth Both in productivity and labor changes, the U.S. is likely to be heavily impacted by the adoption of AI. This impact need not be purely negative. Labor rotation, if handled correctly, can swiftly move workers to more productive and value-added industries rather than simple manual labor ones. In turn, these industry shifts will lead to a more productive economy. Indeed, AI could boost U.S. labor productivity growth over a 10-year period. This, of course, depends on various factors, such as how powerful the next generation of AI is, the difficulty of tasks it will be able to perform, and the number of workers displaced.

How much time do people spend on social media?

              As of 2024, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 143 minutes per day, down from 151 minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is Brazil, with online users spending an average of three hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in
              the U.S. was just two hours and 16 minutes. Global social media usageCurrently, the global social network penetration rate is 62.3 percent. Northern Europe had an 81.7 percent social media penetration rate, topping the ranking of global social media usage by region. Eastern and Middle Africa closed the ranking with 10.1 and 9.6 percent usage reach, respectively.
              People access social media for a variety of reasons. Users like to find funny or entertaining content and enjoy sharing photos and videos with friends, but mainly use social media to stay in touch with current events friends. Global impact of social mediaSocial media has a wide-reaching and significant impact on not only online activities but also offline behavior and life in general.
              During a global online user survey in February 2019, a significant share of respondents stated that social media had increased their access to information, ease of communication, and freedom of expression. On the flip side, respondents also felt that social media had worsened their personal privacy, increased a polarization in politics and heightened everyday distractions.

The number of internet users in North America was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 34.8 million users (+7.35 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the number of users is estimated to reach 508.2 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of internet users of was continuously increasing over the past years.Depicted is the estimated number of individuals in the country or region at hand, that use the internet. As the datasource clarifies, connection quality and usage frequency are distinct aspects, not taken into account here.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more information concerning Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

The number of Youtube users in Africa was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 0.03 million users (+3.95 percent). The Youtube user base is estimated to amount to 0.79 million users in 2029. User figures, shown here regarding the platform youtube, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of Youtube users in countries like Worldwide and the Americas.