There was once a time when a mobile phone was simply a device you would use to call or text. Perhaps you’d even play the odd game of Snake II if you were lucky!
Things changed massively after 2014. This was the year when the number of people accessing the internet through mobile overtook desktop. Before this happened, accessing social media, games, and online stores “on the go” was not as common. Checking emails was also something you’d only do at work or home on your PC.
Which begs the question:
“What percentage of Internet traffic is mobile?”
Continue reading to find out!
Fascinating Mobile Internet Traffic Facts (Editor’s Picks)
- 91% of global users access the internet on their mobile phones.
- 61% of mobile searches are made on Google.
- People spent 143 minutes per day browsing the internet on their phones in 2020.
- The number of social media users accessing Facebook on their mobiles is 66.83%.
- 67.3% of people said they don’t use all their allocated mobile data per month.
- Mobile devices account for 55% of all worldwide web page views in 2021.
- The mobile share of total Internet traffic was 50.8% in 2020.
- By the end of 2021, global mobile data traffic is projected to reach 56.8 exabytes.
General Internet Statistics
1. Over 4.66 billion people around the globe use the internet every day.
(Statista)
Ever wondered how many people have access to the internet worldwide?
At the moment, this figure stands at an impressive 4.66 billion, according to a survey that looked into how many people use the internet every day as of October 2020.
Comparing this to figures 2019, this represents an increase of 530 million people year on year. Interestingly, the number of active internet users worldwide is growing eight times faster than the world population.
2. The most popular mobile browsers are Chrome (62.48%) and Safari (24.98%).
(StatCounter)
According to the latest browser usage statistics from 2021, Samsung Internet was the next most popular mobile browser (6.3%), followed by UC (2.51%), Opera (1.9%), and Firefox (0.5%).
Chrome is the runaway winner, due to its convenience, ease of use, clean interface, and excellent security features like protection against phishing and malware. Safari is the default browser for Apple products, thanks to its speed and range of smart features.
3. 5 billion people around the world use smartphones.
(BankMyCell)
In other words, 45.04% of the total world population owns a smartphone. This is a substantial increase compared to the number of smartphone users back in 2016, which was just 2.5 billion or 33.58% of the global population that year.
Taking into consideration users who own a basic phone, 5.28 billion people fall into this category. So, just under 68% of the entire world population owns some type of mobile device. This means that 23% of the global population owns a mobile phone without “smart” capabilities.
4. The number of people using smartphones globally increased by 40% between 2016 & 2020.
(BankMyCell)
According to the latest mobile phone usage statistics, almost half of the planet now owns a smartphone.
When it comes to the question of what percentage of internet traffic is mobile, it’s important to point out that, by 2023, the number of global users is expected to reach 7.33 billion. Additionally, 72% of all internet users utilize smartphones purely to use the internet.
5. Mobile devices account for 55% of all worldwide web page views in 2021, as stated by the latest mobile internet usage statistics.
(Statista)
This is not surprising as 91% of global users access the internet on their mobiles.
In fact, mobile internet growth has been unprecedented in recent years. Between 2007 and 2015, the growth in total global users rose rapidly for mobile, compared to the steady increase experienced for desktop during the same period.
To illustrate just how much web traffic is mobile, we have to mention that the number of global mobile users surpassed desktop at the beginning of 2014.
Mobile Internet Statistics
6. 4.28 billion people used mobile devices to access the Internet in 2020.
(Statista)
Out of 4.66 billion people who have access to the Internet, the vast majority is also active on mobile devices, too. The vast majority of them are also mobile social media users, around 4.08 billion. In the US, people have spent 215 minutes online on their mobile devices on average in the US alone. We can expect all of the figures to grow in the following period, as more people gain access to the Internet and social media.
7. The mobile share of total Internet traffic was 50.8% in 2020.
(Statista)
If you are wondering how much web traffic was mobile in 2020, you should know that the number was higher in the first half of the year, around 51.5% in the second quarter, and even close to 52% in the first. In fact, it has been close to 50% since 2017.
When it comes to the share of web traffic by device in 2021, in January, 47.6% of web traffic was mobile in North America.
8. The average mobile bounce rate sits just below 60% at present.
(RocketFuel)
This is higher than other devices such as tablets (under 50%) and desktops (under 45%).
There are several reasons:
First, users accessing websites on the go are less inclined to read the content as thoroughly as they would on their PC. They simply want to scan for contact details then leave the page.
The second reason for the high bounce rate is poor user experience – i.e., the webpage hasn’t been optimized for mobile. But as more and more website owners are catching up with this trend, we are likely to offer you a very different answer to the question of what percentage of internet traffic is mobile in the not too distant future.
9. 61% of Google’s organic search traffic came from mobile in 2019.
(Statista)
This makes it the most popular search platform, according to the latest mobile search statistics.
Surprisingly, DuckDuckGo came second with 58%, followed by Yahoo (49%), and, finally, Bing (23%).
DuckDuckGo seems to be the one to watch. Since its usage figures were first released back in Q4 2017 (46%), it has now risen in popularity to 58% in Q4 2019. This growth dwarfs the rate its three other competitors have achieved in the same period.
10. People will spend 155 minutes per day browsing the internet on their phones in 2021.
(Statista)
In contrast, people will spend just 37 minutes per day browsing the internet on their desktops, a minute less than in 2020.
The pattern that has emerged is that from 2011 to the present day, the number of minutes people spend browsing the internet on their desktops has been steadily decreasing.
Contrastingly, mobile browsing statistics indicate that the case for mobile is very different. In fact, the number of minutes people spend browsing the internet on their smartphones is increasing each year.
11. More than 97% of internet traffic for mobile devices comes from mobiles and tablets.
(DeviceAtlas)
The mobile web traffic stats refer to “mobile phones” as any feature phone, smartphone, or mobile with a built-in web browser. However, the share of “feature phones” is low at around 6%.
The other share of traffic refers to major mobile operating systems like iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Firefox OS, amongst others. Interestingly, the figures are nearly four times greater for mobiles than tablets.
Nevertheless, this could change, considering the number of tablets coming to the market is continually increasing.
12. By the end of 2021, global mobile data traffic is projected to reach 56.8 exabytes.
(Ericsson, Statista)
Fast forward to 2025, and it will rise even further to a mind-blowing 160 exabytes. Smartphones will remain at the heart of developments. This stands at 90% of traffic, a figure that will rise by 5% by 2025.
Mobile App Usage Statistics
13. 79% of Facebook users only access the platform through their mobile phones.
(Statista)
In contrast, 19% of Facebook users access the platform through both their computers and phones, as revealed by new Facebook mobile traffic data. A mere 1.9% of users access Facebook only through their laptop or desktop PC.
In January 2020, 98% of Facebook users used any brand of mobile phone to access the platform.
14. Instagram attracts a higher percentage of social media users on mobile (9.31% of all social media users) than desktop (2.37%).
(StatCounter)
Twitter also has a higher percentage of mobile users (21.09% vs. 13.88%), while Pinterest (18.3% vs. 7.1%) and YouTube (9.63% vs. 2.48%) a greater share of social media users on desktop.
15. 61.9% of emails are opened on mobile.
(Emailmonday)
For desktop, this figure drops down to just 9.3%. 28.3% of people will open emails in a webmail client.
What’s more, 75% of people report they use their smartphones more often to check email, while 25.6% of people claim they first read their emails on their mobiles. This seems to be most popular with young people.
In fact, 40% of 14 to 18-year-olds say they read emails on mobile first. As age increases, fewer and fewer people do this, as revealed by recent mobile email usage statistics.
16. 54% of online sales are expected to come from mobile by 2021.
(Pixel Union)
Here’s why:
Desktop shoppers tend to take a full month to decide whether to buy a product. On mobile, 70% of searches lead to action within just one hour!
In fact, 67% of consumers conduct “window shopping” on their mobiles rather than desktop. Augmented reality is expected to be a significant influencer in future mobile commerce sales. Be sure to keep an eye on current mobile commerce statistics to stay up to date, as.
17. The mobile gaming industry consists of almost 50% of the worldwide games market.
(TechCrunch)
Back in 2018, the worldwide games market was worth around $134.9 billion. Within this, mobile gaming stood at $63.2 billion.
When delving into these mobile gaming statistics even further, smartphones account for $50 billion, while tablets make up the remaining $13.2 billion.
Contrastingly, the amount earned through console gaming was only $38.3 billion—a far cry from what is generated through mobile gaming.
For Mobile Internet, the Only Way is Up
Before the advent of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, everything online had to be done on a PC or laptop, which was restrictive in many ways. Now, things are very different.
Advances in technology, better mobile browsers, awesome apps, immersive games, and social platforms are slowly prying people away from their desktops and giving them the world at their fingertips no matter where they are based. Facebook and Instagram are, for the most part, made for mobile.
It seems there is still work to be done to get more people to make the shift, something perhaps hinted through the fact that over 60% of people don’t use all their mobile data per month.
But now that most people spend as much as 143 minutes a day on mobile browsing, along with new connection technology like 5G, it will be interesting to ask the question “what percentage of internet traffic is mobile” in five to ten years.
FAQ
What percentage of websites are viewed on mobile?
55% of worldwide web pages are now accessed through mobile phones. The use of mobile phones to access the internet has grown so much that it has now surpassed desktop internet access.
What year did mobile browsing surpass desktop browsing?
Mobile browsing surpassed desktop browsing at the beginning of 2014, according to mobile vs. desktop internet usage statistics, and has continued to rise since then. Desktop browsing also continues to increase, but at a slower rate than mobile browsing.
What percentage of Google searches are done on mobile devices?
Based on stats from 2019, 61% of mobile searches are made using Google. This means it is the most popular search engine for mobile. DuckDuckGo is another relatively popular platform, with 58% of its organic search traffic coming from mobile.
How many people use mobile data?
Not many people use all their allocated mobile data. In fact, a recent survey revealed that 67.3% of respondents don’t even use what they’re allocated. 12.2% said they use what they have been allocated, while 6.3% claim to purchase more data due to running out.
Sources:
- Oberlo
- StatCounter
- BankMyCell
- Quoracreative
- RocketFuel
- Statista
- Statista
- DeviceAtlas
- Ericsson
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Statista
- Emailmonday
- StatCounter
- Pixel Union
- TechCrunch
