- Global Data Consumption Up 15% Yoy, 113% in Five Years, Claims de-CIX Report
- 2024 Traffic stood at 68 Exabytes, a staggering amount of data
- Sporting events and video games are responsible
Global data traffic hit a new record of 68 Exabytes in 2024, marking a significant 15% jump from 2023’s 59 Exabytes, a report from a major data vendor has claimed.
New figures from De-Cix show that overall traffic has more than doubled since 2020, when the pandemic sent millions of workers home and ushered in new hybrid and remote work patterns.
In 2020, global data traffic stood at just 32 Exabytes—now De-Cix says five years later, we’ve seen 113% growth as consumption then increased to 38 Exabytes in 2021, 48 Exabytes in 2022, and 59 Exabytes in 2023.
Global data traffic is increasing
To put that in perspective, 2024’s 68 exabytes of data exchanged over 3,400 global networks would be equivalent to a stack of paper 20 times taller than Mount Everest if printed. The same amount of data is equivalent to streaming a high-definition video for two million years continuously.
The company also noted the impact of the UEFA Champions League and video games on internet traffic, with 2024 peaking at 24.92 terabits/second on November 20 to coincide with several game launches.
Although gaming accounted for the largest share of traffic in 2024, peaking in the third and fourth quarters, video conferencing also saw a post-summer uptick with hybrid working as the ‘new normal’ despite tech giants’ best efforts to bring people back into office.
The data specifically comes from De-Cix, the world’s leading internet exchange operator, operating 60 locations across Europe, North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
The news comes shortly after CloudFlare announced similar findings, claiming global internet traffic rose 17% year-over-year. Its study emphasized Google’s dominance of both the browser and search markets, while examining the prevalence of artificial intelligence and social media.
