To answer the question in the title directly, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day, and estimates predict that in 2023, these numbers will grow even higher. There’s a huge potential for growth in data creation, and there’s no telling what the future may hold.
This is why data statistics in 2023 will prove to be extremely useful for any business or individual planning to build something in this digitally-centered society. The more data you have, the better you can interpret it to your advantage.
Automation tools are rapidly being implemented in data creation and collection, and with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), we will be witnessing more and more futuristic gadgets, apps, platforms, and services.
If there’s a place where data creation will be incredibly fascinating to analyze, that place is the Metaverse, which will definitely make some serious waves throughout the world in 2023 and in the next years to come. Let’s dig into some of the most interesting data creation statistics!
General Data Statistics in 2023
In order to have a complete overview of this entire sector, we need to look at the general data statistics in 2023.
$103 billion is the projected value of the big data analytics industry for the year 2023.
In less than 1 year from now, this industry will surpass the $100 billion threshold.
$3.1 trillion each year is the estimated cost the US economy pays for poor data quality.
It takes the world’s most powerful economy to afford such huge costs.
1.7 megabytes of data is generated by each Internet user every second.
This data statistic applies for 2020, and in 2023, chances are that these numbers will double.
2.5 quintillion bytes are generated every day by Internet users worldwide.
This is extremely impressive if you think of the amount of data being created around the world in just 24 hours.
95% of all businesses consider that they need to restructure the way they collect and manage data.
Not being able to efficiently use the data collected is a major problem for more than 9 out of 10 organizations across the globe.
97.2% of all businesses are now investing in big data and artificial intelligence (AI).
It’s as close to 100% as it gets, and that just proves the importance of data in today’s digital environment.
$1 billion each year is generated by Netflix through the efficient use of big data.
This amount only refers to what the US-based corporation manages to save on customer retention.
How Much Data Do We Use?
The amount of data we use on a daily basis depends on the country you live in, your line of work, and last but not least, your lifestyle.
| Activity | Average data use (per hour) |
| Web browsing/Social media | 20-120MB |
| Instant messaging | 50MB |
| 1-100MB (depending on attachments) | |
| Music streaming | 45MB |
| Video streaming | 250MB |
| Online gaming | 3-300MB |
| Video calling | 200-300MB |
| Activity or used app | Average data usage (per hour) |
| Pokémon Go | ~3 MB |
| Google Maps | ~5 MB |
| Spotify (normal quality) | ~40 MB |
| PUBG Mobile | ~40 MB |
| Safari (web browsing) | ~60 MB |
| Podcasts | ~60 MB |
| ~80 MB | |
| Fortnite Mobile | ~100 MB |
| Watching Youtube (standard definition) | ~300 MB |
| ~720 MB | |
| TikTok | ~840 MB |
Now it’s time to go over the amount of data used by each person on average.
Approximately 14.7 devices connected to the Internet is the average number for a North American household.
That’s pretty much if you think about the number of devices with an Internet connection.
190 gigabytes per month is the average data usage for the typical North American household.
Having so many devices connected to the Internet can burn up a lot of broadband, which makes data usage keep growing.
Internet Growth Statistics
The Internet is constantly increasing when it comes to the number of websites that are being created, and also if we were to judge by the number of users today. Let’s have a look at the latest Internet growth statistics.
In 2019, approximately 4.19 billion people were using the Internet.
And that was a 5.3% growth compared to the previous year, 2018.
As of October 2021, 4.88 billion people are now active Internet users.
And that’s approximately 62% of the total global population.
222 million people became Internet users over the past 12 months.
This means that 2023 will be yet another record-breaking year for the Internet’s growth.
4,8% is the current annual growth when it comes to the number of Internet users.
That accounts for roughly 600,000 new Internet users each day!
17% was the global penetration rate of the Internet in 2005.
Fast-forward to 2019, and we were already witnessing a 53% penetration rate.
10% per year was the recorded growth of Internet users from 2005 to 2019.
And you can easily understand how the Internet rapidly took over the world and our day-to-day lives.
90.9% of all Internet users are mobile.
This means that close to 9 out of every 10 users access the Internet from a mobile device (smartphone or tablet).
Approximately 2 out of 3 Internet users from developed countries also use their desktops or laptops to go online.
In addition to their smartphones and/or tablets, Internet users are also highly-reliant on their desktops and/or laptops.
Data Growth Statistics (By Years)
Data growth statistics reveal future trends, and they allow people and companies to plan for the years ahead.
| Month, Year | Number of Internet Users, millions | Percentage of the global population |
| Dec,2011 | 2,267 | 32.7 % |
| Mar,2012 | 2,336 | 33.3 % |
| June,2012 | 2,405 | 34.3 % |
| Sept,2012 | 2,439 | 34.8 % |
| Dec,2012 | 2,497 | 35.7 % |
| Dec,2013 | 2,802 | 39.0 % |
| June,2014 | 3,035 | 42.3 % |
| Dec,2014 | 3,079 | 42.4 % |
| June,2015 | 3,270 | 45.0 % |
| Dec,2015 | 3,366 | 46.4 % |
| Jun,2016 | 3,631 | 49.5 % |
| Dec,2016 | 3,696 | 49.5 % |
| June,2017 | 3,885 | 51.7 % |
| Dec,2017 | 4,156 | 54.4 % |
| Jun,2018 | 4,208 | 55.1 % |
| Dec,2018 | 4,313 | 55.6 % |
| Mar,2019 | 4,383 | 56.8 % |
| Jun,2019 | 4,536 | 58.8 % |
| Jun,2020 | 4,833 | 62.0 % |
| Dec,2020 | 5,053 | 64.2 % |
| Mar,2021 | 5,168 | 65.6 % |
As you can see, the Internet and the data being used are constantly growing, and in 2023, we can only expect this trend to continue.
Projections say that by 2035, close to 99% of the global population will have access to the Internet in one form or another.
Social Media Usage Statistics
Social media is one of the sectors where a lot of data is being generated and collected every second of the day, all year round.
How Much Data Does Facebook Use?
1.5 MB of data is being used by Facebook every minute.
And Facebook is one of the world’s most popular apps worldwide, with one of the biggest user databases in history.
How Much Data Does Twitter Use?
For every 5 minutes, Twitter uses approximately 30 MB of data.
Rounding up the numbers, that amounts to roughly 360 MB of data per hour spent on Twitter.
How Much Data Does Instagram Use?
720 MB per hour is the average data usage for Instagram.
That’s quite a lot of data, but it makes sense if you take into account that Instagram is a 100% visual content app.
How Much Data Does Tiktok Use?
70 MB of data are used by TikTok every 5 minutes.
This data usage applies to using TikTok with the app’s default settings.
30 MB of data are used by TikTok every 5 minutes in Data Saver mode.
That amounts to roughly 360 MB of data in 1 hour.
4.55 billion users worldwide have active accounts on Social Media as of October 2021.
That’s more than half of the total global population.
57.6% of the global population is on Social Media.
Which really adds up to the entire data being created, managed, and collected worldwide.
9.9% is the growth rate when it comes to the number of social media users around the globe during the past 12 months.
The average CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for social media users is approximately 10% per year.
409 million people joined social networks between October 2020 to October 2021.
That means that approximately 1.1 million new users registered to social networks every day during this time period.
9 out of 10 Internet users go to social media monthly.
Which is 90% of the world’s total number of Internet users.
7 social networks have more than 1 billion active users each month.
That’s 1 out of every 8 people on Planet Earth.
Video Growth Statistics
Video growth statistics show a positive trend in this sector, meaning that more and more video data is being created by Internet users worldwide.
How Much Data Does Youtube Use?
260 MB per hour is usually used by Youtube with a standard video quality of 480p.
Of course, increasing your video’s quality will automatically lead to higher data usage.
1.65 GB per hour can be used by Youtube if you watch videos in Full HD.
That’s quite an impressive amount of data, but what happens if you play videos in 4K?
2.7 GB of data will be used by Youtube per hour if you watch 4K videos.
So that’s a significant difference if you compare watching videos in 4K to 480p.
How Much Data Does Twitch Use?
225 MB per hour is used by Twitch on average.
This applies to watching videos with a 240p resolution at a bit rate of 0.5 Mbps. If you go any higher, so will your data usage.
How Much Data Does Snapchat Use?
1 MB is used by Snapchat for each single Snapchat.
This data usage statistic applies for Snapchats sent without filters or any other extra editing.
How Much Data Does Discord Use?
11.4 MB of data is used by Discord for an average one-to-one video call.
The duration of the video call is approximately 2 minutes for the amount of data used in the stat presented above.
Communication Statistics
We live in the digital era, where communication is everything. The latest communication statistics show constant growth in this specific sector.
What is the Amount of Data Used in Sending One Text Message?
1 GB is the estimated data used for sending text messages for 1 entire year.
This means that sending text messages requires barely any data at all if you don’t include any media, links, photos, or videos.
How Much Data Does Whatsapp Use?
740 kb are consumed by WhatsApp, on average, each minute during a voice call.
When it comes to video calls, you can imagine that the numbers are a lot higher.
25 MB of data is consumed by WhatsApp during a video call.
So if you were to do the math for 1 hour, that accounts for 300 MB of data.
WhatsApp uses 2 times more data during a video call than Facetime.
However, WhatsApp has a lot more users worldwide.
How Much Data Does Email Use?
0.035 MB of data is consumed by a simple, planned text email.
That’s extremely low, making email sending one of the least data-consuming activities you can do online.
0.2 MB is the amount of data used by emails sent with attachments, such as Word documents or Excel files.
Which is still pretty low considering emails with photos or videos in their attachments.
How Much Data Does Facetime Use?
Up to 80 MB of data are used by Facetime for a 20-minute-long video call.
Sure, these numbers may vary up or down based on your Internet connection.
| Online activity | Approximate size | Approximate volume at 1 GB |
| Instant Messages | 0.024 MB | 42,667 |
| Web Pages | 0.3 MB | 3,413 |
| Digital Photos | 1 MB | 1,024 |
| YouTube Video (one minute) | 2.9 MB | 353 |
| MP3 Download | 4 MB | 256 |
| Online Gaming (one hour) | 30 MB | 34 |
| Standard Definition Movies (100 minutes) | 700 MB | 1.5 |
Services Statistics
Whether you like to admit it or not, we are all addicted to using some services, be it for entertainment, or strictly out of necessity.
How Much Data Does Netflix Use?
Approximately 1 GB of data is being used per hour when it comes to streaming TV shows, or movies, in standard definition.
Which is a pretty high data consumption, especially for people living in areas with poor bandwidth speed.
3 GB per hour is the recorded data usage on Netflix when it comes to streaming videos in HD.
That accounts for 3 times more data usage as opposed to watching sitcoms and movies in standard definition.
How Much Data Does Amazon Video Use?
Roughly 0.38 GB of data is being used by Amazon Prime Videos when streaming in standard definition.
But it immediately jumps to data usage of 1.48 GB if you choose a higher quality.
6.84 GB per hour is used by Amazon Prime Videos when streaming content with the best quality settings turned on.
If you want higher quality for your videos, you have to pay for them with your Internet data.
Big Data Growth Statistics
Big data is a topic gaining more and more traction, and the growth this industry is experiencing comes as no surprise.
$274.3 billion is the estimated value of big data in 2022.
It is already one of the most valuable new industries on the planet.
Over 3.5 billion is the number of searches conducted on Google daily.
And you can only imagine the amount of big data collected on the world’s biggest search engine.
Approximately 100 billion messages are sent and received on WhatsApp daily.
The app may be encrypted, but big data can still be collected anonymously.
80% of the entire data collected by companies is unstructured.
So companies are basically wasting 80% of the information they have, which they could use to generate and nurture leads.
$67 billion is the estimated value for big data in the healthcare sector by 2025.
So in less than 3 years from now, it is predicted that we will reach these impressive numbers.
Approximately 79 zettabytes of data were created last year.
And 2023 plans to break all records when it comes to big data.
By 2025, close to 180 zettabytes of data will be generated within a single year.
That’s almost 3 times as much as the amount of data generated in 2020.
The number of global data interactions has grown by 5000% in the past 12 years.
So you’re basically witnessing 5000% more data being created every year from now on, as opposed to 2010.
Approximately 1.2 billion years is the amount of time that has been spent online so far.
And you can easily understand that this time will only go up.
$103 is the expected worth of the big data analytics market by 2027.
We’re talking about a period not so far from now, meaning less than 5 years.
IoT Growth Statistics
IoT (Internet of Things) is a very dynamic industry, and it is constantly growing due to all the new developments in this field.
More than 10 billion IoT devices will be in-use in 2021.
That just proves to show you how much people are into everything IoT-related.
25.4 billion is the estimated number of IoT devices by the year 2030.
So in less than 10 years from now, the number of IoT devices will be more than 2 times higher than today.
There will be 105,200 IoT devices connecting to the Internet every minute in 2025.
Looking at these IoT statistics, it seems like we’re already living in the future.
Anywhere between $4 to $11 trillion is the economic value of IoT solutions estimated for 2025.
That’s what makes this sector all the more intriguing to investors and regular Internet users alike.
More than 8 out of 10 companies have stated that they have improved their performance through IoT technology.
This means that IoT devices will become more and more popular throughout the business world, given their cost-cutting potential.
$15 trillion is the projected amount for global IoT spending between 2019 and 2025.
And the possibility of these numbers going even higher is not at all excluded by analysts.
$142 billion is the projected value for the global consumer IoT market by 2026.
That amounts to a CAGR growth rate of 17% for the next 4 years.
94% of all retailers consider that it’s worth implementing IoT technology as part of their operations.
They say that the risks are definitely lower than the potential rewards they stand to gain.
73.1 zettabytes is the projected amount of data generated by IoT devices for the year 2025.
We practically can’t even begin to comprehend the size of the data generated by IoT devices.
How Much Is the Data’s Size?
It’s pretty hard to estimate the exact size of the global data available today, but the latest data statistics we’ve found for 2022 may just paint a pretty clear picture about the topic at hand.
| Abbreviation | Unit | Value | Size (in bytes) |
| b | bit | 0 or 1 | 1/8 of a byte |
| B | bytes | 8 bits | 1 byte |
| KB | kilobytes | 1,000 bytes | 1,000 bytes |
| MB | megabyte | 1,000² bytes | 1,000,000 bytes |
| GB | gigabyte | 1,000³ bytes | 1,000,000,000 bytes |
| TB | terabyte | 1,000⁴ bytes | 1,000,000,000,000 bytes |
| PB | petabyte | 1,000⁵ bytes | 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes |
| EB | exabyte | 1,000⁶ bytes | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes |
| ZB | zettabyte | 1,000⁷ bytes | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes |
| YB | yottabyte | 1,000⁸ bytes | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes |
And here’s what 24 hours in data look like at a global level:
Approximately 500 million tweets are sent every day.
That’s extremely impressive if you think about the fact that the total US population is roughly 330 million people.
294 billion emails are sent every single day of the year.
And the total global population is “just” 8 billion people.
Roughly 4 petabytes of data are created every 24h on Facebook.
Being the world’s biggest and most popular social network, it comes as no surprise.
Approximately 4 terabytes of data are generated from each car with devices connected to the Internet.
So, whenever you’re listening to Spotify or having voice calls in your car via WhatsApp, or other messaging apps, you are also creating data.
Over 65 billion messages are sent and received on WhatsApp on a daily basis.
It’s no wonder that WhatsApp dominates as the world’s leading messaging app.
Close to 5 billion searches are conducted every 24 hours around the world.
People rely heavily on search engines to get the information they need, and they create a lot of data during the process.
Approximately 463 exabytes of data will be generated each day by 2025.
To put things in perspective, that’s the equivalent of 212,765,957 DVDs every single day of the year.
The Future of Data
In the future, data could be used even as currency (like we’re already witnessing cryptocurrencies in circulation), but it could also be used to build even more personalized products and services.
572 zettabytes of data will be in existence by the year 2030.
To paint a better picture, that’s roughly 10 times more than the total amount of data we have today all over the globe.
Anywhere between 50,000–500,000 zettabytes will have been created by the year 2050.
Such impressive amounts of data are hard to comprehend, but it’s roughly 1,000–10,000 times more data that we currently have in 2022.
Over 50% of all the available data will be on the Edge by 2025.
And we’re talking about a period just 3 years away from now.
1.8 zettabytes of data were available in 2003.
So approximately 2 decades ago, we had 250 times fewer data than we will have just 8 years from now.
The amount of data available in 2003 was created every other 2 days by 2011.
Just imagine the huge growth of data all over the world. It’s pretty impressive, isn’t it?
Over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data were created every single day during 2018.
The growth of data creation is exponential, and that makes predicting it’s future a very difficult task.
In 2020, 1.7 megabytes of data were created each 1 second.
Who knows where all the recent technological developments will lead us.
We live in a very fast and dynamic world and disruptive technologies such as the blockchain. and the recently announced Metaverse may very well take humanity to the next level of evolution.
More and more companies are working with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools, which will lead to a more efficient data processing mechanism, thus making our technological advancements even faster and more shocking to the everyday person.
What are your predictions for the future? How do you see the future of data in the next 10 years?
Do you think that technology will help serve humanity in the right direction, or are we going down a dangerous path seen only in Sci-Fi movies and novels?
FAQ’s
How much data is generated every second in 2023?
The amounts of data created each second of the year in 2023 are pretty hard to predict, considering that tracking this topic is a very complex process. However, there is data available on the subject.
- 1.7 MB of data was created every second for the entire year of 2020.
44 zettabytes of data were the total size of the digital world at the end of 2020, and if all projections are correct, this number will double by 2023.
How big is the Internet in 2023?
Approximately 5 million terabytes of data are the estimated size of the Internet for 2023, according to Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.
- 5 million terabytes of data = 5 billion gigabytes of data = 5 trillion megabytes
If we were to judge the Internet’s size based on the number of users, then that would amount to 4.66 billion people around the globe. That’s 59.5% of the total global population, which is extremely impressive.
Conclusion
Data is the most valuable asset we have in the digitized world we are currently living in. If all the science-fiction novels of the past and all the popular TV shows like Black Mirror and Brave New World have taught us anything, it’s that data collection is the thing of the future.
It’s what all major corporations are already doing, and it’s without a doubt the reason why we get to use so many apps and software for free. There’s a saying in business that goes a little something like this: “If you’re not paying for it, then you’re the product.”
Now just take a moment to think about all the things you use online for free, all those forms you have completed with your personal information, and last but not least, all those cookie policies you gave your approval and consent to.
The future will be completely focused on data, and those who will manage to collect and centralize as much of this new resource as possible to their advantage will eventually rule the world of tomorrow.
