In the first half of 2021, video accounted for over half of global traffic. Social occupied the next largest share at 12.7 percent, while web browsing accounted for around a tenth. Audio accounted for only 0.31 percent of traffic worldwide.

In January 2025 mobile devices excluding tablets accounted for over 62 percent of web page views worldwide. Meanwhile, over 75 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 51.1 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 8 billion by 2028. Social media: room for growth in Africa and southern Asia Overall, more than 92 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 3 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.

The global number of internet users in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 1.3 billion users (+23.66 percent). After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the number of users is estimated to reach 7 billion 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 key insights for the number of internet users in countries like the Americas and Asia.

When asked about "Attitudes towards the internet", most Mexican respondents pick "It is important to me to have mobile internet access in any place at any time" as an answer. 55 percent did so in our online survey in 2024. Looking to gain valuable insights about users of internet providers worldwide? Check out our

When asked about "Attitudes towards the internet", most UK respondents pick "I could no longer imagine my everyday life without the internet" as an answer. 59 percent did so in our online survey in 2024. Looking to gain valuable insights about users of internet providers worldwide? Check out our

When asked about "Attitudes towards the internet", most Chinese respondents pick "It is important to me to have mobile internet access in any place at any time" as an answer. 49 percent did so in our online survey in 2024. Looking to gain valuable insights about users of internet providers worldwide? Check out our

When asked about "Attitudes towards the internet", most Japanese respondents pick "I could no longer imagine my everyday life without the internet" as an answer. 56 percent did so in our online survey in 2024. Looking to gain valuable insights about users of internet providers worldwide? Check out our

When asked about "Attitudes towards the internet", most German respondents pick "I could no longer imagine my everyday life without the internet" as an answer. 54 percent did so in our online survey in 2024. Looking to gain valuable insights about users of internet providers worldwide? Check out our

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.

When asked about "Attitudes towards the internet", most Australian respondents pick "It is important to me to have mobile internet access in any place at any time" as an answer. 53 percent did so in our online survey in 2024. Looking to gain valuable insights about users of internet providers worldwide? Check out our

The average daily internet traffic per capita in Romania had been increasing over the observed period, for both broadband and mobile internet connections. As a result, the average daily broadband internet traffic per person reached 2.9 GB (gigabytes) in the first half of 2024, which represented an increase of nine percent compared to the same period of 2023.

As of February 2025, video apps accounted for around 76 percent of global mobile data usage every month. Second-ranked social networking accounted for eight percent of global mobile data volume. The two categories, though, can easily overlap, as users can watch videos via video applications, as well as on social networking applications. Most popular social media platforms with video content Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram were among the most popular social networks in the world, as of October 2021. Each of these platforms allow to post, share, and watch video content on a mobile device. One of the fastest growing global brands, Tiktok, is also a social media platform where users can share video content. In September 2021, the platform reached 1 billion monthly active users. Leading types of mobile video content in the U.S. The United States was the third country in the world based on the number of smartphone users as of May 2021, with around 270 million users. Therefore, mobile content usage in the country was one of the highest in the world, and a big part of it was video content. As of the third quarter of 2021, more than 80 percent of survey respondents in the United States reported watching YouTube on their mobile devices. Social media videos were the second most popular type of content for mobile audiences, with almost six in 10 respondents watching videos on social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter.

As of February 2025, 5.56 billion individuals worldwide were internet users, which amounted to 67.9 percent of the global population. Of this total, 5.24 billion, or 63.9 percent of the world's population, were social media users. Global internet usage Connecting billions of people worldwide, the internet is a core pillar of the modern information society. Northern Europe ranked first among worldwide regions by the share of the population using the internet in 20254. In The Netherlands, Norway and Saudi Arabia, 99 percent of the population used the internet as of February 2025. North Korea was at the opposite end of the spectrum, with virtually no internet usage penetration among the general population, ranking last worldwide. Eastern Asia was home to the largest number of online users worldwide – over 1.34 billion at the latest count. Southern Asia ranked second, with around 1.2 billion internet users. China, India, and the United States rank ahead of other countries worldwide by the number of internet users. Worldwide internet user demographics As of 2024, the share of female internet users worldwide was 65 percent, five percent less than that of men. Gender disparity in internet usage was bigger in African countries, with around a ten percent difference. Worldwide regions, like the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe, showed a smaller usage gap between these two genders. As of 2024, global internet usage was higher among individuals between 15 and 24 years old across all regions, with young people in Europe representing the most significant usage penetration, 98 percent. In comparison, the worldwide average for the age group 15–24 years was 79 percent. The income level of the countries was also an essential factor for internet access, as 93 percent of the population of the countries with high income reportedly used the internet, as opposed to only 27 percent of the low-income markets.

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.

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.

In 2019, direct e-commerce channels had the highest traffic among Southeast Asian countries, with direct channels accounting for 55.4 percent of the traffic in Thailand. Comparatively, paid e-commerce channels accounted for just 3.2 percent of all traffic in Thailand in 2019.

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).

In December 2023, nearly 86 percent of the web traffic in Haiti was generated via mobile phones, having the highest share for this type of device among South American and Caribbean countries across 2023. Meanwhile, desktop computers accounted for approximately 11.6 percent.

In 2022, 4G networks accounted for the highest share of mobile internet traffic in Hungary, totaling over 96.4 percent in the last quarter.

As of the third quarter of 2024, around 98 percent of global users accessed the internet via mobile phones, while 97.8 percent reported doing so via smartphones. By comparison, internet access via laptop or desktop computer was reported by almost 58.3 percent of respondents. Additionally, smart wrists were common among 31 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, 92 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 22 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 168 million monthly watch hours across live-streaming platforms in June 2024. On Twitch alone, gamers watched over 3.3 billion hours of live-streamed content in the first quarter of 2024.