How much data is generated every day? (2024)

Research highlights: In 2024, 402.89 million terabytes of data are created, captured, copied, or consumed every day. This adds up to 147 zettabytes of data per year. It's projected to grow to 181 zettabytes by 2025.

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How much data is created and consumed daily?

One zettabyte is equal to a trillion gigabytes or 1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000 bytes

•  Over the past decade, the amount of data worldwide has skyrocketed, jumping from 2 zettabytes in 2010 to an estimated 147 zettabytes in 2024. That is 402.89 million terabytes created every day
  
  
• The biggest yearly jump happened in 2011, with data volume shooting up by 150%, going from 2 zettabytes to 5 zettabytes
  
  
• There was a big spike in data creation in 2020, with a 56.59% increase, as the volume rose from 41 zettabytes in 2019 to 64.2 zettabytes
  
  
• Predictions from 2021 to 2025 suggest that this high growth will continue, with an average annual increase of 22.8%. This means data volume is expected to nearly double from 79 zettabytes in 2021 to 181 zettabytes by 2025
  
  
• Between 2020 and 2025, global data volume is expected to almost triple, growing from 64.2 zettabytes to 181 zettabytes
  
  
• Comparing 2010's 2 zettabytes to the expected 181 zettabytes in 2025, we see that data volume is doubling roughly every three to four years
  
  

Which country has the most data centers?

•  The United States leads the world with 5,381 data centers
  
  
• Germany comes in second with 521 data centers
  
  
• The United Kingdom is right behind Germany with 514 data centers
  
  
• China has 449 data centers, the most in Asia
  
  
• Canada ranks fifth globally with 336 data centers
  
  
• Mexico has 170 data centers, the most in Latin America
  
  
• India operates 152 data centers, which is relatively modest given its large population and tech industry

What were the biggest data breaches in US history?

•  Yahoo had the biggest data breach in U.S. history, affecting over 3 billion user accounts from 2013 to 2016
  
  
• In December 2023, Real Estate Wealth Network had a breach with 1.5 billion records leaked. It's the second-largest breach on record and the most recent big one
  
  
• Microsoft had a breach in January 2021 that hit 30,000 U.S. companies and 60,000 companies worldwide
  
  
• Facebook and LinkedIn were both breached in April 2021, affecting 530 million and over 700 million user records, respectively
  
  
• In May 2019, First American Financial Corp. had a major data exposure with 885 million file records compromised, making it one of the largest breaches of sensitive financial info
  
  
• JPMorgan Chase's breach in June 2014 affected 76 million households and 7 million small businesses, showing vulnerabilities in the financial sector that impacted many people and small businesses
  
  
• The Home Depot breach in April 2014 compromised 56 million payment card numbers and 53 million email addresses
  
  
• MySpace was breached in June 2013, exposing over 360 million accounts. This was one of the most significant early breaches affecting social media data
  
  
• The FriendFinder Networks breach in November 2016 impacted 412 million accounts