Internet Traffic Volume

Internet traffic volume has grown exponentially since the internet’s origin. Each year, hardware and internet coverage improve, enabling more people to send more data. The annual growth rate for traffic volume has declined since the general internet adoption by the developed world during the ten years from 1994 to 2003. Since then, annual growth has fallen below 90.0%. This decline in annual growth has occurred due to the approaching saturation of internet use in the developed world. However, internet use is still rapidly expanding in emerging markets and many parts of the developed world, and improved hardware is aiding more data sent worldwide. As a result, total internet traffic is forecast to grow 24.0% in 2018 alone, reaching an average traffic of 150.9 exabytes per month (or 72.5 x 1015 bytes per month). According to data from Cisco, global IP traffic per person reached 12.9 gigabytes in 2016, up 27.7% from 10.1 gigabytes in 2015.

As broadband connection speeds continue to increase, with the average fixed broadband speed growing 11.0% in 2016, more users can access videos and other media online, bolstering internet traffic volumes. At the same time, global net neutrality laws, or when internet service providers (ISPs) treat all internet traffic equally, will be inextricably tied to internet traffic volumes. Without net neutrality, ISPs could offer quicker broadband connection speeds for favored content (i.e. websites that pay ISPs) and slower broadband connections for other content. If net neutrality laws are not implemented in some countries, it may slow down broadband speeds for some content, dampening internet traffic volumes.

Furthermore, internet traffic volume exhibited strong growth as in-person shopping shifted to e-commerce and work environments largely shifted to remote work amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic 2020. Consumers continue to gravitate towards e-commerce and using delivery apps in a post-pandemic environment, causing internet traffic volume to remain elevated in the current period.