Data is the gold, the crude of the 21st century.
In fact, it has become more valuable than all intangibles due to the important role it plays in globalization, technological advancement, and business solution, among others.
It is not surprising that we make tons and tons of data. By that, I mean exabytes of it enter the system with ease.
But exactly how much data is generated every day in 2024? Let’s find out!
How Much Data is Generated Every Day in 2024?
A study claims the world creates 3.5 quintillion bytes of data every 24 hours in 2024.
If we put this in visual representation for easier understanding for our readers, this number is equivalent to two Eiffel Towers stacked together.
Moreover, 3.5 quintillion bytes is estimated to be 40x bigger than all observable stars combined in the universe.
Why is There So Much Data?
Just in case you forgot, we are not living in the Pliocene era where massive tectonic plate movements still happen in India and Asia.
We are living in a world where people could not survive not checking on their phones to know if their S/O viewed their latest Instagram story or messaged them on Messenger.
The amount of data created every day is brought on by the world’s increasing reliance on the internet. Let’s take our favorite FAANG coalition as examples.
Here is Why…
In 2020, there were 400,000 users simultaneously streaming on Netflix per minute.
Hold on a sec – what does this mean? It only means people consumed so much data to power their video streaming service providers during the year.
Now, let’s jump to Amazon. The Jeff Bezos-owned firm reportedly ships more than 6,600 packages a minute.
How does Amazon make this happen efficiently? By using data! From accessing Amazon’s app to putting that cat food in the cart, up until when the platform receives an order, data is an important part of the order process.
Timeline of How Much Data is Created Yearly
It’s the internet era, and this means the amount of data created annually has also increased over the years.
Here is a detailed study from Statista showing the amount of data created worldwide every year from 2010 to 2022.
The numbers are expressed in zettabyte or ZB which is equivalent to 1,000 bytes to the 7th power or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
ZB is the second-biggest unit of measurement in the byte section, ranking next to yottabyte.
- 2010 – 2 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2011 – 5 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2012 – 6.5 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2013 – 9 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2014 – 12.5 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2015 – 15.5 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2016 – 18 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2017 – 26 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2018 – 33 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2019 – 41 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2020 – 64.2 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2021 – 79 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2022 – 97 zettabytes of data were created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
How Much Data Will Be Created in the Future
Businesses will digitize, countries will industrialize, and people will become more technologically inclined.
This means more data creation and consumption in the coming years.
Here is a prediction on the amount of data that will be created every day from 2023 to 2025:
- 2023 – 120 zettabytes of data will be created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2024 – 147 zettabytes of data will be created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
- 2025 – 181 zettabytes of data will be created, transformed, captured, copied, and consumed globally during the year
Media and Data Usage on Major Platforms
We use data the moment we send that good morning text message or post a photo from our latest camping trip.
What does media usage across mainstream platforms look like? Let’s find out!
- WhatsApp – 41,666,667 messages are sent through the online messaging platform every minute
- Voice and video calls – 1,388,889 voice and video calls happen simultaneously around the world every minute
- Reddit statistics – there are 479,452 Reddit engagements every minute
- Instagram Stories – internet users post 347,222 Stories on Instagram per minute
- Messenger statistics – there are 150,000 messages sent on Facebook Messenger per minute
- Facebook photos – there are 147,000 photos uploaded on Facebook per minute
The data above shows people can’t get enough of data usage.
From posting Instagram Stories to uploading photos on Facebook, we need data to do it all.
Data Analyst Salary per Country
Since data has officially become the crude of the modern era, this shift has also called the need for people who will make sense of all these things.
How much do data professionals, specifically data analysts make in every country?
- Germany – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $67,245 annually
- Australia – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $65,095 annually
- Netherlands – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $61,486 annually
- Canada – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $59,928 annually
- Sweden – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $59,489 annually
- United Kingdom – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $54,831 annually
- New Zealand – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $53,828 annually
- United Arab Emirates – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $48,541 annually
- Singapore – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $47,327 annually
- South Africa – the average pay for an entry-level data analyst in the country is $19,516 annually
Conclusion
What makes the world go round? By now, we already know that the answer is data.
This is proven by the sheer volume of data that is generated every day in 2024 which is at 3.5 quintillion bytes.
It is amazing to see how much the world has improved over the past years and having more data online and offline is a clear manifestation of this massive shift.
Facebook alone creates 4 petabytes of data. Imagine how big that is!