Global internet traffic grew significantly in 2024, and that’s not all

The fact that we all spend a lot of time online is nothing new, but internet company Cloudflare has shared some statistics regarding just how much everyone around the world has been surfing this year — and their figures show a huge increase in internet traffic globally.

Despite dips at the end of February and the end of the summer, global internet traffic surged during the final quarter. Through the end of November, total yearly traffic has increased by 17.2 percent. However, this increase isn’t evenly distributed around the world. In Guinea, for example, internet traffic grew by a whopping 350 percent in 2024.

Cloudflare also investigated how we used the internet during the year. Unsurprisingly, Google remains the biggest search engine and Chrome the most popular web browser, while WhatsApp reigns as the most popular communication app and Facebook as the top social media site.

Other interesting tidbits from Cloudflare’s 2024 Year in Review include: 225 major internet disruptions were observed globally; the fastest 10 countries have an average internet speed of 200Mbps; about 41 percent of global internet traffic is done via mobile devices; and the United States is responsible for over one-third of all bot traffic.

And here’s another fun fact: Satellite internet is on the rise, with global Starlink internet traffic growing more than 330 percent in 2024.