Roughly 57 percent of internet traffic was generated with mobile phones in 2021. With smartphones having long become ubiquitous and affordable for many as well as cheap data plans being available almost everywhere around the globe, this comes as no surprise. What's a little more surprising is the share of traffic generated with mobile versus desktop devices per region.
As our chart based on data collected by Statcounter shows, Europe, North America and Oceania can't seem to let go of their laptops and desktop PCs yet. 53, 51 and 57 percent of web traffic, respectively, was generated by desktop devices in the past year. The African population, on the other hand, is well adjusted to the mobile payment market, with many people using apps with no bank account requirement to pay for day-to-day expenses. This mobile-first approached is also evident in the traffic share of mobile devices like smartphones, which reached almost 70 percent on the continent in 2021.
Even with a variety of models, makes and data plans to choose from when it comes to smartphones, the world is a little more conservative when it comes to browser preference. In 2021, 63 percent of traffic was generated by Google's Chrome browser, while Apple's Safari made up 25 percent of traffic share. On the other hand, Samsung, while being one of the best selling Android brands around the world, can't seem to convince smartphone owners to use their dedicated browser: Only roughly six percent of the world's mobile traffic was generated with Samsung Internet.
