How Much Data Is Created Every Day in 2024?

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Aditya Rayaprolu
Written by
Aditya Rayaprolu

Updated · Mar 12, 2024

Aditya Rayaprolu
Technology Architect | McKinsey & Company | Joined February 2023 | LinkedIn
Aditya Rayaprolu

Aditya is an Azure DevOps and Infrastructure Virtualization Architect with experience in automation,... | See full bio

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Edited by
Girlie Defensor

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Girlie Defensor
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Girlie Defensor

Girlie is an accomplished writer with an interest in technology and literature. With years of experi... | See full bio

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Ever wondered how much data is created every day? Or perhaps you’re keen to know how much data the average person uses at home? Thanks to the invention of mobile technology like smartphones and tablets, along with innovations in mobile networks and WiFi, the creation and consumption of data are constantly growing. 

So how much data is produced every day in this tech-savvy world? Before we delve into the details, here’s a quick overview.

Stunning Data Growth Statistics (Editor’s Choice)

It’s now possible to see how much data is created every day, as well as how much data we consume regularly. You might be surprised to find out that:

  • In 2021, people created 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day.
  • By 2022, 70% of the globe’s GDP will have undergone digitization.
  • In 2022, 91% of Instagram users engage with brand videos.
  • By 2025, 200+ zettabytes of data will be in cloud storage around the globe.
  • In 2022, users send around 650 million Tweets per day. 
  • By the end of 2020, 44 zettabytes will make up the entire digital universe.
  • In 2022, 333.2 billion emails are sent every day.

How Much Data Do We Use?

A lot.

And now, time to wrap up… Kidding, kidding.

Given how much data is on the internet, the actual amount of data used is difficult to calculate. 

But if we’re talking about how much data is created every day the current estimate stands at 1.145 trillion MB per day. 

That’s not all.

1. How much data is created every day in 2022? By the end of the year, the world would produce 94 zettabytes of data.

(Source: Finances Online)

Predictions from global data experts show that humans will produce and consume about 94 zettabytes of data by the end of 2022. 

How’s this even possible?!

2. 41,666,667 million messages are sent daily on Whatsapp.

(Source: Finances Online)

What about Facebook? 150,000 messages and 147,000 images are sent and received on Facebook every day. 

Instagram users post about 347,222 stories every day. 1,388,889 voice calls and messages are sent out daily. Netflix users stream 404,444 hours of video content every day.

Put this all together, and hitting the 94 zettabyte mark won’t be such a long shot.

3. 463 exabytes of data will be generated each day by people as of 2025.

(Source: Raconteur)

Based on how much data is already generated every day by humans through social media, video sharing, and communications, the number will surely increase.

Now let’s talk about the internet.

Even as you read this your device stores a lot of unusable data. You may consider using a tool to free up some space and remove unnecessary files.

Internet Growth Statistics

Internet usage growth statistics tell us that people around the world are increasingly gaining access to the internet. Logically, the number of internet users and search queries is also increasing. This impressive information growth rate is only set to continue.

Now. 

Try to guess how many active internet users are there.

4. There were 4.95 billion active social media users worldwide in January 2021.

(Source: Data Reportal)

Internet growth statistics from Data Reportal show that 4.95 billion people are using social platforms as of January 2022. That’s about 62.5% of the world population.

5. There are about 99,000 Google searches every second.

(Source: Oberlo)

Google is the leading search engine in the world. But how much data does Google process daily? Well, as of January 2022, there are about 99,000 Google searches every second. 

This is roughly 8.5 billion searches per day.

6. The end of 2021 could see two trillion Google searches.

(Source: ILS)

Google is the number one search engine, with a 91% market share. Wonder how many people use Google?

Experts predict that the engine’s searches will amount to about 2 trillion in the whole of 2021. That equates to 6 billion searches a day.

Social Media Usage Statistics

Exactly how much data is created every day on social media? The social media usage statistics themselves suggest a fair amount. Here’s some insight into the popular platforms of Facebook and Twitter.

7. 51% of the content on Facebook is video.

(Source: Sprout Social)

In this current clime, video content is king. It is not surprising then, that over 50% of Facebook’s content is video.

8. Over 650 million new Tweets are posted every day in 2022.

(Source: Blogging Wizard)

It’s tough to figure out exactly how many tweets are sent out each day. However, recent social media usage statistics show that over 650 million tweets are sent out every day.

9. As of Q1 2022, 79% of Twitter users follow brands.

(Source: The Social Shepherd)

Their goal is to stay in touch with brands and see their latest updates. Many brands create engaging and informative content that followers love to see.

10. 90% of Instagram users follow a brand in 2022.

(Source: Sprout Social)

It is also interesting to note that 70% of buyers check out a brand on Instagram before making a purchase.

Video Growth Statistics

Video growth statistics tell us that YouTube, Twitch, and Snapchat tend to be the most popular social platforms for video sharing. What is interesting though is the difference in data they individually use.

11. A 480p video on YouTube uses 8.3MB per minute and 500MB per hour.

(Source: WhistleOut)

‘How much data does a YouTube video use?’ is a fairly common question.

It largely depends on the quality of the video being played. 480p is the standard definition, however, higher quality settings like 1080p will inevitably use more data.

12. A 480p video on Twitch uses between 0.405GB and 0.54GB per hour.

(Source: Stream Scheme)

Although this may not seem much (and really, it isn’t), the truth is that it is more than other platforms like YouTube and Snapchat.

13. You need 1MB to send one Snapchat.

(Source: Canstarblue)

If you want to find out how much data Snapchat uses, I’m afraid there’s no public data relating available. However, it’s estimated that one Snapchat costs 1MB to send.

Remember that you’ll need more than that for high-definition pictures, videos, or Snapchats with filters.

14. People watch 2 billion videos on Twitter daily.

(Source: Yum Yum Videos)

With the annual video viewership on the rise, this would be a good opportunity for brands to capitalize on increasing video content on Twitter.

Communication Statistics

How often you use communication apps or tools has a massive effect on how much data is created every day. 

15. One text message only uses the equivalent of 0.0001335 MB of data.

(Source: Side Hustle Nation)

Determining data used based on how many texts are sent per day is quite tricky. SMS messages are normally included in a phone plan, hence why we can’t draw an exact figure. What we do know is that 0.0001335MB, the amount of data used in sending one text, is hardly astonishing.

16. Sharing a message on WhatsApp usually uses only Kilobytes of data.

(Source: Quora)

Interested in knowing how much data WhatsApp uses per message? The truth is that it’s usually not much. However, if you share a video, this can use more than 1MB of data. In fact, this normally uses between 500MB and 2GB of data.

17. Expect to use between 0.5MB and 1.3MB per minute for a VoIP call.

(Source: GenVoice)

Again, a variable. It all comes down to the technology being used by your VoIP provider, as well as your own personal use habit.

18. In 2024, the number of emails will be about 361 billion every day.

(Source: Statista) 

Data growth statistics show that the number of daily emails flying across the web will increase by 55.2 billion in the next few years. The mode of communication continues to be a preference for brands and individuals alike, despite the advancements in chat and messaging apps.

Big Data Growth Statistics

Data growth stats in 2022 tell us that big data is growing at an unprecedented rate. The majority of the world’s data has come about in only the past two years as indicated by data growth statistics. Meanwhile, machine-generated data will account for 40% of internet data this year. Thankfully we have data visualization tools to make all this data understandable. 

19. Almost 70% of GDPs will have undergone digitization by 2022.

(Source: IORG)

The biggest lesson that Covid-19 has taught economies is that digitization is paramount. The most significant advantage is that work can still go on without reporting to physical work locations.

Data growth statistics show that by 2022, over 70% of GDPs worldwide will have gone through some form of digitalization. The demand for collaboration software, cloud solutions, and contactless services will go up as Governments and organizations strive to move away from analog systems.

That’s not all.

By 2023, investment in Direct Digital Transformation (DXT) will amount to $6.8 trillion. Organizations will continue to work on their existing systems during this time to seek better ways for service delivery, distributed workforces, and cost-cutting.

20. Cloud data storage around the world will amount to 200+ Zettabytes by 2025.

(Source: Cybercrime Magazine)

Storage data growth statistics show that both public and private cloud infrastructure will receive 200+ zettabytes (ZB) of data by 2025. That will be up from 2019’s 4.4ZB and 2020’s 44ZB.

That will be a double-edged sword.

The positive will be that businesses will have attained most of their digitalization plans to produce that data. The downside will be that cybercrime will thrive.

But that will only happen if organizations and governments drop the cybersecurity ball, which will be less than likely. 

21. Machine-generated data accounted for over 40% of internet data in 2020.

(Source: Handbook of Research on Cloud Infrastructures for Big Data Analytics)

Statistics on data machine learning growth and web data growth show that humans generated 60% of data on the internet last year. The global machine language value will amount to $117.19 billion by the end of 2027.

22. An average application infrastructure generates more than 113GB of log data per day

So far, we have seen applications like FB, IG, X.com, and Airbnb create tons of data in the form of comments, likes, posts, and pictures. There are tons of applications created every day, with or without the goal of becoming the next big thing. All these average or below-average applications might not generate tons of data like the biggies but they do generate tons of data behind the scene. For instance, research from SolarWinds claims that the average infrastructure of an application generates 113GB of log data behind the scenes. And, more than half of those indexed logs generate no value in improving the performance or security of the application.

IoT Growth Statistics

IoT is showing no sign of slowing down. In fact, the industry is booming. As the number of IoT devices increases, the number of active users and subscriptions increases too. Here are the three key stats you need to know about IoT technology.

23. By 2023, there are expected to be around 1.3 billion IoT subscriptions.

(Source: Statista)

So why is this figure so high? Although many household IoT devices do exist, many of them are used outside the home in places like factories and hospitals. 

24. The number of  IoT devices will reach 25.44 billion in 2030.

(Source: Statista)

In 2019, the number of connected devices was only 7.74 billion. By 2030, that number will more than triple, according to data growth statistics.

In the consumer segment, the primary use cases for the technology will be media devices like smartphones. Other examples include smart grid, asset tracking & monitoring, autonomous vehicles, and IT infrastructure.

25. China had 3.17 billion IoT devices in 2020.

(Source: Statista)

China had over three billion IoT-connected gadgets in 2020. When it came to spending on the equipment, China was at the top in the Asia Pacific region with $168 billion in 2019. South Korea came second with $26 billion.

There’s more:

Predictions show that the APAC region will be the biggest IoT spender by 2030. 

How Much Is the Data’s Size?

Now let's see how small data become big data.

How much is a byte?

1 byte equals 0.001 kilobyte.

How much is a kilobyte?

1 kilobyte equals 1024 bytes.

How much is a megabyte?

1 megabyte equals 1024 kilobytes.

How much is a gigabyte?

1 gigabyte equals around 1024 megabytes.

How much is a terabyte?

1 terabyte equals 1024GB.

How much is a petabyte?

1 petabyte equals 1024 terabytes.

How much is an exabyte?

1 exabyte equals roughly 1024 petabytes.

How much is a zettabyte?

1 zettabyte equals around one trillion gigabytes.

How much is a yottabyte?

1 yottabyte equals 1,204 zettabytes.

We now officially feel like Count von Count.

Wrap Up

Data growth stats provided some big numbers. And they’ll only get bigger.

That’s what she said.

Anyway.

As more and more people are gaining access to the internet daily, people are using social media and other forms of digital communication like VoIP calls and texting apps more and more. That's why data visualization software and infographic tools are getting so popular lately - they can easily transform tons of data into easy-to-digest information. 

Considering that the majority of the world's data has been generated within the last two years alone, it will be interesting to ask the question ‘how much data is created every day' in perhaps five or ten years' time. 

Do you think Count von Count will be able to count that?

FAQ.


Will the number of data centers increase in the future?

Yes. In fact, data center growth statistics tell us that in the next couple of years data centers will increase in number. Storage data centre growth statistics tell us that this will be between 12% and 14%.

What’s the main way that data is used in advertising?

Data growth in advertising statistics show that retargeting is a popular way to combine advertising with data. It works fairly well, as 43% of re-targeted visitors do convert to a paying customer.

Are internet sales increasing around the world?

According to internet sales growth statistics, they are. They’ve grown year and year since 2014, and there’s no sign of a decline in the future either. India shows the most prosperous CAGR forecast up until 2023 (17.8%) followed by Spain (11.1%) and China (11%).

Where in the world is social media use most popular?

If you’re wondering how much data is created every day and where, know that social media is one of the main reasons behind the huge numbers we see. Social media usage statistics by country tell us that uptake is highest in UAE at 99%. It’s also popular in Taiwan and South Korea (88% and 87% respectively).

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1 comment
Gene Baker
1 year ago
Loved the article. If we are creating content and data at an exponential rate and the average reader can read 250 words per minute, this is an unsustainable model. There are simply not enough hours in a day. We will soon reach a content saturation point. Soon 90% of the new content created will not find an audience
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