Have you ever wondered what percentage of internet traffic is mobile? If we’re talking about the world, then the answer is 57.88% of all web page views. As for the United States, the figure is a bit lower — up to 50.73% of overall internet traffic is mobile.
In this article, we’ll cover the most important questions regarding internet traffic via your cell phones, such as: how many people use mobile phones to access the internet, which regions lead the mobile data-usage phenomena, what country has the biggest percentage of cell phone traffic, and many more.
So, if you’re looking to learn more on the topic, take a look at our stats below!
Top 10 Mobile Internet Traffic Statistics for 2024
- In March 2021, mobile devices accounted for 54.18% of all web page views globally.
- In Q1 of 2021, mobile devices generated 59% of organic search engine visits in the US.
- Active mobile internet users account for 59.5% of total internet users.
- 91% of all digital minutes in Indonesia came from mobile devices.
- In 2020, 99.9% of Europeans had an active mobile broadband subscription.
- Video apps aggregated the most mobile internet data in 2021 — 66.2%.
- In North America, 49.87 percent of internet traffic comes from mobile devices.
- In 2022, the global average mobile download speed is 29.91 Mbps.
- In 2020, 61% of website visits in the US were generated through mobile phones.
- In Q2 of 2020, only 31% of the total e-commerce revenue came from mobile devices.
How Much Internet Traffic Is Mobile?
What percentage of people use their mobile devices for internet browsing, and which country makes the highest percentage of mobile web traffic?
Let’s find out!
1. In March 2022, mobile devices accounted for 57.84% of all web page views globally.
(Statcounter) (Statista)
What percentage of internet traffic is mobile worldwide? 57.84%. That’s a slight increase from the previous year (55.81%).
Out of that, a fair share of mobile traffic comes from Africa (59.26%), Asia (66.67%), Oceania (37.94%), Europe (51.07%), North America (49.87%), and South America (58.89%).
2. The average mobile connection was expected to generate 5,373 Megabytes per month of mobile data traffic in 2021.
(Cisco)
On top of that, in 2021, it was predicted that the global mobile web traffic would make up 20.5% of the total Internet traffic and witness a CAGR of 46%.
3. Internet traffic statistics from 2020 suggest that over 4.54 billion people in the world were internet users.
(We Are Social)
This was a 7% increase since 2019, seeing how in 2020 there were approximately 298 million new users.
At the same time, 3.80 billion people were social media users, a 9% increase since 2019. In addition to that, in 2020, the number of mobile phone users reached 5.19 billion people.
4. Mobile internet usage statistics show that, on a global scale, active mobile internet users accounted for 59.5% of total internet users.
(Statista)
As of January 2021, 59.5% of the global population were active internet users. Out of those, a staggering 92.6% stated that they access the internet via their mobile devices, making mobile phones the most important channels for getting online.
5. In 2020, a whopping 91% of all digital minutes in Indonesia came from mobile devices.
(Statista)
This begs the question, how much internet traffic is viewed on mobile devices in the US? Namely, in the US, 79% of all online time is spent on mobile, only further proving that smartphones are taking over the digital arena.
6. In 2020, Nigeria had the highest percentage of mobile web traffic — 75.1%.
(Statista)
In Nigeria, mobile devices generated 75.1% of web traffic. India took second place with 64.37% of web traffic.
On the other hand, Vietnam had the lowest rate of web traffic through mobile phones — merely 19.39%.
7. In 2020, 99.9% of Europeans had an active mobile broadband subscription.
(Statista)
To put those mobile internet traffic statistics into perspective, out of 100 people in the world, nearly 75 had an active mobile internet subscription in 2020.
8. Video apps aggregated the most mobile internet data in 2021 — 66.2%.
(Statista)
As of January 2021, video apps used 66.2% of the global mobile data. The second-largest data consumer app category was under “undefined” or “other kinds of apps,” with 14.3%.
Internet mobile traffic stats also show that just 10.1% of the entire data pool was used for social media networking apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Moreover, around 3.9% was allocated for software updates, 3.2% for browsing, 1.7% for audio apps, and only 0.7% for file-sharing purposes.
North American & US Mobile Internet Stats
How often do Americans use their mobile devices to access the internet?
9. In North America, the percentage of internet traffic from mobile devices has decreased to 49.87%.
(Statista) (Statista) (Statcounter)
If this trend continues, by 2023, the number should reach 86.7%.
10. In 2020, 61% of website visits in the US were generated through mobile phones.
(Perficient)
The data on mobile vs desktop usage in 2020 in the US shows that mobile phones generated 61% of website visits (4% more than in 2019). In contrast, desktops generated 35.7% of all website visits in 2020, whereas tablets made a meager 3.3%.
11. North and Latin America, South East Asia, and Oceania will have the largest predicted GB/month traffic growth over the 2019/2025 period.
(SmartInsights)
Mobile internet traffic growth will be the most pronounced in Latin America, with a 34% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Coming in at close second is Southeast Asia and Oceania, with a CAGR of 33%. When it comes to North America, the projected CAGR is 32%.
Furthermore, the CAGR in Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe is projected to be 28% and 27%, respectively.
Taking all regions into account, the global average growth rate will be 25%.
12. How much internet traffic comes from mobile devices in retail? The average online shopping value ordered via mobile was only $90.82.
(Statista)
Even though the latest holiday shopping statistics boast impressive numbers, e-commerce is a sector where mobile is still somewhat lagging behind the others.
For example, in the Q2 of 2020, the average online shopping value ordered through mobile devices in the US was merely $90.82. At the same time, desktop computers had an average shopping order value of $131.16.
In between the two, we have tablets, generating an average shopping value of $96.75.
13. Mobile vs desktop internet usage statistics from 2021 report that desktop internet searches started dropping since 2011 whereas mobile searches started increasing.
(Statcounter)
As of May, 47.59% of the total web visits in the US came from mobile devices. At the same time, 48.88% of total web visits came from desktops, and merely 3.53% came from tablets.
While desktop internet searches started dropping steadily in 2011 (92.72% in 2011 vs. 48.88% in 2021), mobile searches started increasing (7.28% in 2011 vs. 47.59% in 2021).
14. As per mobile vs desktop internet usage statistics from 2020, Americans spent about four minutes on their phones reading about food and drink-related topics.
(Preficent)
Americans spent an average of 250 seconds (four minutes) on their phones browsing through food and drink-related topics, information on real estate, online communities, social networks, and finance.
On the flip side, desktop users spent most of their time on the internet (almost 600 seconds on average) on games, food and drink topics, online communities, sports, and books and literature.
15. In Q2 of 2020, only 31% of the total ecommerce revenue came from mobile devices.
(Statista)
What percent of internet traffic is mobile when it comes to digital shopping? A mere 31%.
Traditional channels seem to win the mobile vs. desktop debate. However, a total of $47.8 billion generated during the monitored period is still highly respectable.
Interesting Stats and Facts on Mobile Traffic
What is the global average mobile download speed, and which countries have the lowest mobile adoption rate?
16. In October 2020, Vietnam had the lowest mobile adoption rate.
(Statista) (Data Reportal)
How much of the web traffic is mobile since 2020 in Vietnam? A mere 19.39%.
In other words, most traffic comes from desktops and laptops (about 58%).
Still, the 2021 data indicates that the number of internet users in Vietnam grew by 0.8% since 2020, while in January 2021, internet penetration in the country reached 70.3%.
17. In Q1 of 2021, mobile devices generated 59% of organic search engine visits in the US.
(Statista)
Compared to mobile internet traffic statistics from 2020, there was a slight drop in numbers.
For example, in Q4 of 2020, mobile devices made 61.6% of organic search engine visits. Likewise, in Q3 and Q2 of 2020, they made 64%.
18. In 2022, the global average mobile download speed is 29.91 Mbps.
(SpeedTest)
The United Arab Emirates has the fastest mobile download speed of 133.51 Mbps. Next in line are Norway (118.58 Mbps), South Korea (116.51 Mbps), Qatar (113.00 Mbps), and the Netherlands (107.81 Mbps).
19. According to the same stats on mobile internet traffic, Palestine has the slowest mobile download speed of just 5.34 Mbps.
(SpeedTest)
Other countries that have the slowest mobile internet download speed are Afghanistan (5.39 Mbps), Venezuela (5.98 Mbps), Sudan (6.81 Mbps), Somalia (7.74 Mbps), Ghana (7.83 Mbps), Tajikistan (8.04 Mbps), and Cuba (9.11 Mbps).
20. Asia and Africa surpass the global average when it comes to mobile traffic.
(Statista) (Statista)
Experts believe this is due to the infrastructural and financial restraints of connecting to the internet via desktop.
As previously mentioned, in 2020, Nigeria was ranked first, with 75.1% of mobile web traffic.
FAQs
How much of the United States’ internet traffic is on mobile?
Mobile devices account for 50.73% of the internet traffic in the US.
What percentage of internet traffic is mobile in 2022?
As of March, 2022, mobile devices generate 57.84% of the global website traffic, whereas active mobile internet users make 59.5% of total internet users.
When it comes to regions, Asia has the largest share of mobile traffic (66.67%), followed by Africa (59.26%), South America (58.89%), Europe (51.07%), North America (49.87%), and Oceania (37.94%).
What percentage of users use mobile devices for browsing?
In 2021, 83% of Americans used their mobile devices for internet browsing. By 2026, this number is estimated to reach 87.66%.
What percentage of internet traffic is there in the US?
In 2021, there were 302 million internet users in the US, and 90.8% of Americans accessed the internet via any device.
What’s more, based on current projections, by 2025, the online usage penetration should reach 94.2%, while the number of internet users in the US should increase to 321 million.
The most popular online activities among Americans were video streaming platforms, e-mails, search engines, and social networks.
What was the expected share of mobile internet meant to be by the end of 2021?
The global mobile data traffic made up 20.5% of total internet traffic in 2021. On top of that, over the course of the year, the traffic was expected to have a CAGR of 46%.
On a global scale, mobile data traffic amounted to 48.3 exabytes per month, and 43% of networked devices were mobile-connected.
Furthermore, the average Wi-Fi speed on mobile devices was expected to increase to 37 Mbps, while the average mobile connection speed amounted to 20 Mbps.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s safe to say that mobile already has the upper hand when it comes to the way we consume data.
As of now, these mobile internet traffic statistics show that watching videos, using messaging apps, and visiting social media networks are the most preferred online activities on smartphones.
However, experts agree that slowly but steadily, mobile will gain more ground and overtake the world of online retail as well.
