How is internet usage growing?

Internet usage continues to grow, even in regions like the United States, where people are already highly connected. This growth is driven in part by the increasing number of devices connecting to the internet, such as smart appliances and smart home technologies. Despite the end of the pandemic potentially changing habits, there has not been a notable decline in online activity. Instead, usage patterns have stabilized, and with more devices coming online, overall traffic continues to increase 1.

Globally, there has been a significant rise in internet connectivity, particularly in regions like India, Africa, and Southeast Asia. This surge is attributed to rural areas and developing countries gaining access to the internet. In 2023, internet traffic grew by approximately 25% overall, driven substantially by the four billion people who were previously not online. This marks a considerable advancement in global connectivity and indicates that there is still substantial potential for growth in internet usage as more of the world's population comes online 2.