Internet Traffic from Mobile Devices (2022)
Internet use and mobile use are components of everyday life for billions of people.
In fact, for many, the two now go hand in hand.
With the new “mobile-first” world in mind, here’s a breakdown of what we’ll cover about the current state of website traffic from mobile devices in 2022:
- Mobile Device Internet Usage Stats (Top Picks)
- What Percentage Of Internet Traffic Comes From Mobile Devices?
- Mobile Device Internet Usage By Region
- Mobile Device Activities Data
- 5G Adoption Statistics
- The Future Of Mobile Device Internet Usage
Mobile Device Internet Usage Stats (Top Picks)
- 54.4% of website traffic comes from mobile devices.
- 92.1% of internet users access the internet using a mobile phone.
- There are approximately 4.32 billion active mobile internet users.
- Africa has the highest proportion of internet traffic from mobile devices - 69.13%.
- There will be over 1 billion 5G connections worldwide by 2025.
What Percentage of Internet Traffic Comes From Mobile Devices?
The latest figures show that 54.4% of all website traffic comes from people using mobile devices.
Back in Q1 2015, this figure sat at less than one-third (31.16%). In other words, mobile device internet traffic has increased by around 75% since 2015.
This percentage climbed quarter-over-quarter, surpassing the 50% mark (50.03%) in Q1 2017.
Here’s a quick look at mobile internet traffic share every Q1 since 2015:
| Quarter | Share | Annual Change |
| Q1 2015 | 31.16% | - |
| Q1 2016 | 39.47% | ↑ 26.67% |
| Q1 2017 | 50.03% | ↑ 26.75% |
| Q1 2018 | 51.77% | ↑ 3.48% |
| Q1 2019 | 48.71% | ↓ 5.91% |
| Q1 2020 | 51.92% | ↑ 6.59% |
| Q1 2021 | 54.8% | ↑ 5.55% |
Over the last five years, website traffic from mobile devices has fluctuated somewhat. However, there has been a slow upwards trend in figures, remaining above 50% for 17 of the last 20 quarters (after a dip between Q4 2018 and Q2 2019).
To further highlight the continued growth, here are the top 10 quarters ordered by the highest proportion of mobile website traffic:
| Rank | Quarter | Website Traffic Share | Growth Over Previous Month |
| #1 | Q3 2021 | 55.78% | Yes - ↑ 0.69% |
| #2 | Q2 2021 | 55.09% | Yes - ↑ 0.29% |
| #3 | Q1 2021 | 54.8% | Yes - ↑ 2.6% |
| #4 | Q4 2021 | 54.4% | No - ↓ 1.38% |
| #5 | Q3 2017 | 52.99% | Yes - ↑ 0.78% |
| #6 | Q4 2019 | 52.6% | Yes - ↑ 1.09% |
| #7 | Q3 2018 | 52.4% | Yes - ↑ 0.51% |
| #8 | Q2 2017 | 52.21% | Yes - ↑ 2.18% |
| #9 | Q4 2020 | 52.2% | Yes - ↑ 1.39% |
| #10 | Q1 2020 | 51.92% | No - ↓ 0.68% |
Globally, people access the internet using various devices. An analysis of internet usage in Q3 2021, split these into 10 categories (some of which overlap).
The data revealed that around 9 in 10 (92.1%) internet users access the internet using a mobile phone of some kind.
By comparison, approximately 7 in 10 (71.2%) use the more “traditional” laptop or desktop.
Here is a full breakdown of the findings:
| Device | Share of Users |
| Mobile phone (any) | 92.1% |
| Laptop or desktop (any) | 71.2% |
| Smartphone | 90.7% |
| Feature phone | 5% |
| Tablet device | 28.2% |
| Own laptop or desktop | 64.5% |
| Work laptop or desktop | 29.4% |
| Connected television | 30.4% |
| Smart home device | 13.8% |
| Games console | 12.6% |
Source: StatCounter, DataReportal
Mobile Device Internet Usage by Region
There is a significant disparity between mobile internet traffic shares across the globe.
Africa is the region with the highest proportion of internet traffic coming from mobile devices (69.13%).
That is more than twice the proportion of the world’s least mobile-centric region for internet traffic, Oceania (39.51%).
Here is a more detailed look at August 2021’s data:
| Rank | Region | Share of Mobile Internet Traffic | Difference to Global Average |
| #1 | Africa | 69.13% | + 12.24% |
| #2 | Asia | 65.2% | + 8.31% |
| - | Global | 56.89% | - |
| #3 | South America | 51.47% | - 5.42% |
| #4 | Europe | 49.19% | - 7.7% |
| #5 | North America | 48.49% | - 8.4% |
| #6 | Oceania | 39.51% | - 17.38% |
Broken down into nations, here are some key takeaways from 2021’s mobile internet traffic as a percentage of total web traffic data:
The global average figure for 2021 was 55.01%.
Worldwide, Nigeria has the highest proportion of mobile internet traffic 81.43%, followed by India with 75.96%, and South Africa with 72.59%.
Each of the top 13 nations are either African (5) or Asian* (8).
Of the countries surveyed, Russia has the lowest proportion of mobile internet traffic (30.2%), with the majority of citizens accessing the internet via desktop. The next-lowest by proportion are Portugal (34.12%) and Canada (37.71%).
Below are the top and bottom by region of the 40 nations surveyed for mobile internet traffic share:
Africa
- Nigeria - 81.43%
- South Africa - 72.59%
- Egypt - 67.66%
- Morocco - 52.51%
Asia
- India - 75.96%
- Saudi Arabia - 70.82%
- Hong Kong - 42.27%
- Russia - 30.2%
South America
- Argentina - 57.14%
- Brazil - 49.49%
Europe
- Republic of Ireland - 58.1%
- Poland - 53.05%
- Portugal 34.12%
- Russia - 30.2%
North America
- Mexico - 52.88%
- US - 47.57%
- Canada 37.71%
Oceania
- New Zealand - 41.48%
- Australia - 40.64%
*Includes partly-European Turkey
Taking a look at mobile internet use from a different angle, 15 nations around the world have a mobile internet user penetration rate of over 90%.
And a total of 28 exceed the 85% mark.
The US has a mobile internet penetration rate of 83.15%.
Here’s a breakdown of the top 15 nations by mobile internet penetration rate in 2021:
| Rank | Nation | Continent | Mobile Internet Penetration |
| #1 | Bahrain | Asia | 98.11% |
| #2 | UAE | Asia | 95.56% |
| #3 | Kuwait | Asia | 94.21% |
| #4 | Japan | Asia | 92.16% |
| #5 | Taiwan | Asia | 92.01% |
| #6 | South Korea | Asia | 91.96% |
| #7 | Brunei | Asia | 91.82% |
| #8 | UK | Europe | 91.44% |
| #9 | Denmark | Europe | 91.39% |
| #10 | Hong Kong | Asia | 91.09% |
| #11 | New Zealand | Oceania | 91.02% |
| #12 | Sweden | Europe | 90.93% |
| #13 | Norway | Europe | 90.9% |
| #14 | Qatar | Asia | 90.66% |
| #15 | Luxembourg | Europe | 90.16% |
Perhaps unsurprisingly, each of the top five countries for fastest mobile internet speeds also feature in the table above:
| Rank | Nation | Continent | Oct 2021 Mobile Internet Speed | Mobile Internet Penetration Rank |
| #1 | UAE | Asia | 273.87 Mbps | #2 |
| #2 | South Korea | Asia | 214.47 Mbps | #6 |
| #3 | Qatar | Asia | 178.83 Mbps | #14 |
| #4 | Norway | Europe | 178.7 Mbps | #13 |
| #5 | Kuwait | Asia | 170.67 Mbps | #3 |
| #6 | Cyprus | Europe | 168.72 Mbps | #22 |
| #7 | China | Asia | 168.28 Mbps | -* |
| #8 | Saudi Arabia | Asia | 164.81 Mbps | #16 |
| #9 | Bulgaria | Europe | 153.72 Mbps | -* |
| #10 | Australia | Oceania | 147.77 Mbps | #30 |
*Doesn’t feature on the list of 31 ranked nations
Source: StatCounter, Statista, Speedtest
Mobile Device Activities Data
As technology has evolved, so too have our uses for mobile devices.
Today, mobile devices are used for entertainment, e-commerce, and financial management to name a few.
According to December 2020 data, the most common use for a mobile device is playing games with 68% of people gaming on their phones.
Here’s a breakdown of the 16 most commonly given answers:
| Rank | Activity | Share | Activity Type |
| #1 | Played a game | 68% | Entertainment |
| #2 | Listened to music | 67% | Entertainment |
| #3 | Used social media | 63% | Entertainment |
| #4 | Watched video, TV, or film | 61% | Entertainment |
| =#5 | Paid for something bought online | 47% | E-commerce/Finance |
| =#5 | Accessed bank | 47% | Finance |
| #7 | Ordered a product | 42% | E-commerce |
| #8 | Booked food delivery | 41% | E-commerce/Health & Wellbeing |
| #9 | Used for work | 38% | Business |
| #10 | Sent money to a friend | 35% | Finance |
| =#11 | Paid for something using Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc. | 33% | E-commerce/Finance |
| =#11 | Read magazine or newspaper | 33% | Entertainment |
| #13 | Used a medical or fitness service | 25% | Health & Wellbeing |
| #14 | Booked a taxi ride | 22% | Travel |
| #15 | Controlled a smart device | 20% | Entertainment/Misc. |
| #16 | None of the above | 3% | N/A |
Looking at the above table, it’s clear that e-commerce is among the most popular uses for mobile devices.
Indeed, more than half of the online population (55.4%) are likely to have bought something online in the past month using a mobile device.
In Q3 2020, 42 nations were ranked by share of the online population who had purchased something online using a mobile device in the last month.
In total, 16 different countries saw over 50% of their online populations use a mobile device for e-commerce in the previous month.
The US just missed out on this benchmark with 48.7% - ranking second for North America behind Mexico (54%).
Turkey (54.8%) is the highest-ranking European* nation, followed by Italy (46.7%) and the UK (46.5%)
South America’s largest share comes from Brazil (50.8%).
While Africa’s highest-ranked country is Egypt (40.1%).
And Oceania’s top nation is New Zealand (38.9%).
The 11 countries with a higher-than-global-average share are as follows:
| Rank | Country | Region | Share of Online Population Using E-commerce |
| #1 | Indonesia | Asia | 79.1% |
| #2 | Thailand | Asia | 74.2% |
| #3 | Philippines | Asia | 69.6% |
| #4 | Malaysia | Asia | 68.4% |
| #5 | Saudi Arabia | Asia | 65.1% |
| #6 | China | Asia | 64.3% |
| #7 | Taiwan | Asia | 63.8% |
| #8 | Vietnam | Asia | 61.4% |
| #9 | South Korea | Asia | 59.9% |
| #10 | India | Asia | 57.3% |
| #11 | Singapore | Asia | 56.9% |
*Partially European
Source: Mobile Ecosystem Forum, We Are Social
5G Adoption Statistics
Mobile internet traffic has continued to increase as 5G is rolled out. And there are expected to be over 1 billion 5G connections worldwide by 2025.
China is expected to have over 3x more 5G connections than any other country.
In fact, it is predicted that China will have considerably more than the US, Japan, Germany, South Korea, the UK, France, and Canada combined.
Here are the figures forecast for 5G connections in 2025:
| Country | 5G Mobile Connections | Share of 5G Mobile Connection |
| China | 866 million | 51% |
| US | 247 million | 68% |
| Japan | 138 million | 68% |
| Germany | 68 million | 58% |
| South Korea | 45 million | 73% |
| UK | 42 million | 57% |
| France | 35 million | 49% |
| Canada | 20 million | 51% |
Source: GSMA
The Future of Mobile Device Internet Usage
Mobile subscriptions have risen year-over-year since 1993.
From 34 million in 1993. To 8.648 billion in 2021.
Despite rising at a slower rate in recent years, subscriptions are still on the up.
Here’s a look at major milestones for worldwide mobile subscriptions over the last 30 years:
| Mobile Subscriber Milestone | Year |
| 100 million | 1996 |
| 500 million | 2000 |
| 1 billion | 2002 |
| 2 billion | 2005 |
| 3 billion | 2007 |
| 4 billion | 2008 |
| 5 billion | 2010 |
| 6 billion | 2012 |
| 7 billion | 2015 |
| 8 billion | 2019 |
These figures show that mobile device internet usage only looks to be heading on its way.
As of 2021, there are 4.66 billion active internet users. And 4.32 billion active mobile internet users.
The discrepancy between active social media users (4.2 billion) and active mobile social media users (4.15 billion) is even smaller.
As both internet use and social media use grow, it only stands to reason that mobile internet traffic will follow suit.
Source: ITU, DataReportal
Conclusion
That rounds off our look at mobile internet traffic.
Developing nations are helping push the surge in mobile internet use.
And established digital regions are continuing to close in on ubiquitous mobile internet use.