Mobile accounts for approximately half of web traffic worldwide. In the last quarter of 2024, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 62.54 percent of global website traffic. Mobiles and smartphones consistently hoovered around the 50 percent mark since the beginning of 2017, before surpassing it in 2020. Mobile traffic Due to low infrastructure and financial restraints, many emerging digital markets skipped the desktop internet phase entirely and moved straight onto mobile internet via smartphone and tablet devices. India is a prime example of a market with a significant mobile-first online population. Other countries with a significant share of mobile internet traffic include Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. In most African markets, mobile accounts for more than half of the web traffic. By contrast, mobile only makes up around 45.49 percent of online traffic in the United States. Mobile usage The most popular mobile internet activities worldwide include watching movies or videos online, e-mail usage and accessing social media. Apps are a very popular way to watch video on the go and the most-downloaded entertainment apps in the Apple App Store are Netflix, Tencent Video and Amazon Prime Video.

As of the third quarter of 2024, around ** percent of global users accessed the internet via mobile phones, while **** percent reported doing so via smartphones. By comparison, internet access via laptop or desktop computer was reported by almost **** percent of respondents. Additionally, smart wrists were common among ** percent of the respondents. Online video consumption In 2023, texting and watching online videos were among the most popular activities for smartphone users worldwide. By the first quarter of 2024, ** percent of internet users globally were watching online videos monthly. TikTok is a prime example of this trend, as it became the platform where U.S. adults spent more daily time than on any other social media app as of June 2023. Gaming and live-streaming Video game streaming has become a leading trend in watched video content, accounting for ** percent of online reach by the fourth quarter of 2024. This growth is driven mostly by the shift from single player to multiplayer gaming. For example, the multiplayer game Grand Theft Auto V was the most-watched game, with over *** million monthly watch hours across live-streaming platforms in June 2024. On Twitch alone, gamers watched over *** billion hours of live-streamed content in the first quarter of 2024.

The population share with mobile internet access in North America was forecast to increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 2.9 percentage points. This overall increase does not happen continuously, notably not in 2028 and 2029. The mobile internet penetration is estimated to amount to 84.21 percent in 2029. Notably, the population share with mobile 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 a mobile broadband connection.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 population share with mobile internet access in countries like Caribbean and Europe.

This statistic shows the share of households in Poland that accessed the internet via a desktop or portable computer from 2004 to 2014. In 2004, 19 percent of households used a desktop or portable computer to access the internet. This number increased to 73 percent in 2014.

This statistic displays the share of households in Turkey that accessed the internet via a desktop or portable computer from 2004 to 2014. In 2014, 42 percent of households used a desktop or portable computer to access the internet.

The global number of smartphone users in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 1.8 billion users (+42.62 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach 6.1 billion users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of smartphone users of was continuously increasing over the past years.Smartphone users here are limited to internet users of any age using a smartphone. 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 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 smartphone users in countries like Australia & Oceania and Asia.

As of the third quarter of 2024, almost 57 percent of the total daily time spent online by internet users was via mobile devices, including smartphones and feature phones. The remaining 43.2 percent of the time, they used computers. Five years before that, the picture was quite different, as smartphones comprised around 47 percent of the daily internet usage time.

This statistic shows the share of households in Bulgaria that accessed the internet via a desktop or portable computer from 2004 to 2014. In 2014, 56 percent of households in Bulgaria used a desktop or portable computer to access the internet.

This statistic displays the share of households in North Macedonia that accessed the internet via a desktop or portable computer from 2004 to 2014. In 2014, 66 percent of households used a desktop or portable computer to access the internet.

As of the third quarter of 2024, approximately **** percent of internet users in the United States went online via any kind of mobile phone, while **** percent reported doing so via smartphones. By comparison, laptop or desktop internet access was reported by around **** percent of respondents. Additionally, **** percent of U.S. internet users reported going online with their laptop or desktop device, while around ** percent reported doing so with a work laptop. Smartphone usage in the United States During the past years, the number of smartphone users in the United States has increased. According to recent data, 85 percent of the adults in the country own a smartphone. This has led to high competition between the biggest manufacturers in the field. Apple is the leading manufacturer in the U.S., with a market share of ** percent, followed by Samsung and Motorola/Lenovo. Meanwhile, there is more competition when it comes to operating systems. Apple iOS, which is used on all devices created by Apple, and Google Android, which is used for Samsung devices, have the biggest user share. Usage of other devices in the U.S. Smart home devices have become popular in recent years. It is projected that in 2025 the penetration rate for Smart Home segments like control and connectivity, as well as security, will grow up to ** and ** percent respectively. For users in the United States, the most common device for watching shows or movies was a TV set. According to the research, more than ** percent of the respondents spent more than 20 hours weekly in front of a TV. In comparison, the majority of those who watched shows or movies on a computer, tablet, or smartphone spent less than an hour weekly on such activity.

In 2023, global users spent around *** hours daily accessing the internet via mobile, as well as **** hours on average using the internet via laptop or PC devices. Between 2015 and 2023, the number of hours spent accessing the internet via PC among digital users worldwide ********* when compared to the time spent doing so on mobiles and smartphones.

In January 2025 mobile devices excluding tablets accounted for over ** percent of web page views worldwide. Meanwhile, over ** percent of webpage views in Africa were generated via mobile. In contrast, just over half of web traffic in North America still took place via desktop connections with mobile only accounting for **** percent of total web traffic. While regional infrastructure remains an important factor in broadband vs. mobile coverage, most of the world has had their eyes on the recent 5G rollout across the globe, spearheaded by tech-leaders China and the United States. The number of mobile 5G subscriptions worldwide is forecast to reach more than ***** billion by 2028. Social media: room for growth in Africa and southern Asia Overall, more than ** percent of the world’s mobile internet subscribers are also active on social media. A fast-growing market, with newcomers such as TikTok taking the world by storm, marketers have been cashing in on social media’s reach. Overall, social media penetration is highest in Europe and America while in Africa and southern Asia, there is still room for growth. As of 2021, Facebook and Google-owned YouTube are the most popular social media platforms worldwide. Facebook and Instagram are most effective With nearly ***** billion users, it is no wonder that Facebook remains the social media avenue of choice for the majority of marketers across the world. Instagram, meanwhile, was the second most popular outlet. Both platforms are low-cost and support short-form content, known for its universal consumer appeal and answering to the most important benefits of using these kind of platforms for business and advertising purposes.

This statistic presents the average daily time spent online by internet users worldwide from 2011 to 2021, sorted by device. According to Zenith Optimedia, in 2018, the average daily minutes of desktop internet consumption per capita amounted to 39 minutes and is projected to slowly decline until 2020. However, daily mobile internet consumption is set to increase to 155 minutes in 2021.

Switzerland is leading the ranking by population share with mobile internet access, recording 95.06 percent. Following closely behind is Ukraine with 95.06 percent, while Moldova is trailing the ranking with 46.83 percent, resulting in a difference of 48.23 percentage points to the ranking leader, Switzerland. The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population having access to the internet via a mobile broadband connection. 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).

As of August 2020, the most popular device for accessing the internet in Taiwan was the mobile phone. Almost ** percent of respondents used their mobile phones to go online. Only around a third of participants stated that they used a desktop computer or a laptop to access the internet.

The mobile takeover

In a survey of Taiwanese consumers, respondents indicated that they used their smartphone as an all-around device. According to the same survey, the mobile phone was not only the leading device for accessing the internet, but also for watching movies and playing online games. One possible reason for the phenomenon was the high penetration rate of mobile phones in the region and the quality of the mobile internet infrastructure.

** development

Taiwan’s mobile internet infrastructure drives up the utility of mobile phones. As of 2020, the leading network technology was ** in the region, but within the next five years around half of the mobile connections were projected to rely on ** technology. Already, today, the region has the third-fastest ** internet connection worldwide. A fast mobile network enhances the utility of the mobile phone for activities that require a large amount of data, such as watching movies.

In 2019, mobile devices drew even with PCs and laptops in terms of daily online usage. This represents a change from 2016, where mobile still only accounted for ** percent of global daily online time. Amongst other things, the continued strong growth of mobile internet usage can be attributed to the proliferation of low-cost smartphones in mobile-first digital markets.

Facebook is the leading social network worldwide, and its accessibility through multiple mobile apps as well as its mobile website. In January 2021, over 98 percent of active user accounts worldwide accessed the social network via any kind of mobile phone.

Facebook in mobile-first markets India is thecountry with the largest Facebook audience by far, with 340 million users on the platform, followed the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil all of which have more than 100 million Facebook users each. With the exception of the United States, all of these are digital markets with mobile-first audiences. In many emerging markets, mobile is often the first online experience, providing online users with their first internet experience through inexpensive smartphones and mobile data contracts. In India and Indonesia, mobile by far surpasses desktop in terms of audiences and time spent.

Mobile Facebook access Due to the social network’s wide reach on mobile, it is unsurprising that Facebook consistently ranks as one of the most-downloaded app publishers worldwide. Some of the apps published by Facebook include the eponymous social networking app (and its low-bandwidth version, Facebook Lite), Facebook Messenger (also available as Messenger Lite), Facebook Pages Manager and Facebook Local. In the Google Play Store, Facebook Messenger, Messenger Lite and Facebook frequently rank among the top downloaded apps every month.

This statistic presents the average daily time spent online by internet users in North America from 2011 to 2022, sorted by device. According to Zenith Optimedia, in 2018 the average daily minutes of North American desktop internet consumption per capita amounted to 53 minutes. However, daily mobile internet consumption was already 183 minutes per capita and is set to increase to 249 minutes in 2021.

In July 2024, mobile phones generated around 54 percent of the web traffic from web browsers in Italy. Traffic generated by laptop and desktop devices accounted for 43 percent of the total, while tablets only made up just over two percent of the internet traffic in the country during the examined period.

Mobile devices generated most of the web traffic in Africa, with a share of over ** percent in July 2023. Laptops and desktop computers had a share of roughly ** percent, while accessing the internet through tablets corresponded to just over *** percent of the total traffic.