By 2020, 75% of mobile traffic will be video (CISCO Study)

Mobile data traffic is increasing at a huge rate, and a new study from Cisco confirms that by 2020, video will account for a staggering 75% of that traffic. That's up from 55% in 2015. The statistics for North America are even higher, coming in at over 77%.

Cisco’s latest annual Visual Networking Index forecast (VNI) states that mobile data traffic has grown 400-million-fold over the past 15 years, and the increased number of users, mobile devices, and innovations in technology are driving mobile video consumption through the roof. The study predicts that by 2020, there will be more than 11.6 billion mobile connected devices, exceeding the world’s projected population at that time (7.8 billion). That's going to have a huge impact on video traffic.

Mobile Video Traffic Predictions for 2020:

• By 2020, over 75% of global mobile data traffic will be video content.
• In U.S. video will account for 77% of total mobile data traffic by 2020, up from 61% in 2015
• Video accounted for 55% of mobile traffic in 2015.
• Smartphones will account for 81% of total mobile traffic by 2020 - up from 76% in 2015.
• 4G connectivity share is predicted to surpass 2G by 2018 and 3G by 2020
• By 2020, there will be 432M global WiFi hotspots (inc household) - up from 64M in 2015.
• There will be 3x more mobile connections than people in the UK by 2020.
• 7 trillion video clips will be uploaded in 2020 - 2.5 daily video clips for every person
• Global mobile data traffic will reach 30.6 exabytes per month in 2020, up from 3.7 exabytes in 2015

Mobile Video Traffic: Consumption On the IncreaseVideo has a much higher bit rate than other types of online content, why is why it is cited to generate such a huge percentage of mobile traffic growth in the next 5 years. According to Cisco, mobile video traffic will increase at a CAGR of 62% between now and 2020, around 9% higher than average mobile traffic. Cisco predicts that total mobile traffic will reach an annual rate of 30.6 Exabytes per month.

In terms of video content, that's the equivalent of 7 trillion online video clips. 23.0 of the 30.6 exabytes crossing the mobile network per month by 2020 will be video clips.

What's going to drive the increase in video consumption between now and 2020? Unsurprisingly, it will be the ease at which consumers can access high-end mobile devices, and how they use them to access online video footage. Smartphones have become so sophisticated that they are capable of generating 41x as much traffic as a basic mobile phone, tablets even more so with the capability to drive 113x more traffic.

Video is set to have the highest growth rate of any mobile application in the next 5 years, which is why a mobile video marketing strategy is essential for brands. Keep reading ReelSEO for strategy advice and tips about optimising your content for mobile.