2020 Data Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind! 

We have all heard of data, but do we truly understand its significance?

From mobile devices, the rise of the internet and social media, to machine learning, AI, and blockchain, there is no stopping the tidal wave of data being generated and collected. In our new digital world, we are more connected than ever, and there is no escaping the enormity and significance that data is currently having and will have on our lives.

Big Data is involved in every aspect of a modern company, helping both large and small businesses make more informed decisions about trends, buying behaviors, strategic direction, how to manage time, resources, and more.

Here are 20 data statistics for 2020!

There is approximately 1.2 million terabytes of data on the internet.

Th four biggest internet companies Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, currently hold around 1.2 million terabytes of data. This number is growing every second, and each day it is estimated that a single internet user will connect with 4800 data points (IDC). By the end of 2020, this storage amount is estimated to be 44 Zetabytes. And no, a Zetabyte is not a type of alien. A Zetabyte is an equivalent to every person on earth tweeting for 100 years, or streaming 125 million years of your favourite TV show!

The Big Data industry will be worth $77 billion by the end of 2023.

Big Data is one of the fastest growing industries. Even though it is still establishing itself, by the end of 2023, it is estimated to be worth $77 billion. However, worldwide the spending from businesses on big data will be worth over $274.3 billion by the end of 2022 (IDC).

Businesses are investing in digital transformation, increased technological efficiencies, data storage and cybersecurity. And whilst the value of data is somewhat hard to comprehend (here’s a hint: it’s big) Forrester Research reports that 88% of data was being ignored by companies, due to a lack of analytics, siloed data and difficulty knowing the value of the data collected.

It would take a person 181 million years to download all of the data on the internet. (Source: Physics.org)

According to Forbes, nearly 90% of all data has been created in the last 2 years, yet it would take 181 million years for one person to download all of the data on the internet.

In 2019, internet users spent 1.2 billion years online. (Source: Digital 2019)

For those of you who have an iPhone, you’ll know that you can track your screen time. Whilst it may be helpful, it is also disturbing when you get notified that each day that week you spend around on average 6 hours and 42 minutes on your phone. Add that to the hours spent at work on laptops and computers and it’s safe to say we spend a LOT OF TIME online. With 4.4 billion internet users it turns out to be 1.2 billion years worth of screen time in just 12 months.

80-90% of the data we generate today is unstructured. (Source: CIO)

Each time a consumer goes online, contacts a company, registers within a form or makes a purchase, the data collected about the same person comes in all different formats. This makes a lot of work for those who have to analyze, structure and leverage that data. So it comes as no surprise that 95% of businesses stated that unstructured data is a major issue (Forbes).

Companies leveraging Big Data on average increased in profits by 8% in 2015. (Source: Entrepreneur)

Big business survival will depend on Big Data adoption, and those who have come early to the party are already reaping the benefits. In 2015 it helped companies predict popular products and styles, influence consumer behavior and reduce operational costs, and that was just the beginning. According to Forrester Research, by 2021, those businesses that are using data-driven insights will be taking $1.8 trillion annually away from their less-informed competitors. These companies are creating competitive advantage through data-driven software implementation. These types of firms are growing 30% annually!

WhatsApp users exchange up to 65 billion messages daily. (Source: Connectiva Systems)

The most popular and downloaded messaging app in the world, so it comes as no surprise that with 2 billion users, it generates 65 billion messages a day.

Bad quality data costs the US economy $3.1 trillion dollars annually. (Source: IBM)

Globally it is estimated to cost businesses between $9.7 to $14.2 million dollars annually, by not leveraging their data effectively. Essentially, poor data means poor decision making and this simple equation is present in both big data and normal business data. BI tools and data visualization applications are essential for all businesses.

Only 23% of companies surveyed have an enterprise-wide big data strategy.(Source IBM)

Whilst big data is still establishing its definition, some businesses (approximately 76%) are not creating data strategies to effectively manage and utilize their data. One of the fastest-growing C-suite positions is a Chief Data Officer to tackle the data challenges at hand.

Netflix saves $1 billion per year on customer retention. (Source: Inside Big Data)

Clever usage of data can save businesses time, money and hassle. With 182 million subscribers and growing, Netflix has been able to prevent customers from leaving the platform by predicting their viewing habits. Customer retention is one of the smartest ways to remain profitable.

Companies investing more than $500 million annually into big data has nearly doubled in 12 months from 12.2% to  21.1% in 2019. (Source: NewVantage Partners)

In less than 12 months, the number of businesses investing half a billion dollars into big data has nearly doubled in size. With a clear return on investment, these businesses are getting ahead of the game by adopting big data technologies or paying outsourced firms to manage, analyze and leverage their data within their business strategies.

The internet is growing at a rate of 11 new users per second, or a million users each day. Currently, around 57% of people on earth use the internet.

With the internet having 4.57 billion active users as of April 2020 and growing by 1 million users each day, it will only be a few more years until most of the world is connected. With that many users, search engines like google have more than 40,000 searches every second (3.5 billion per day!!).

Social media accounts for 33% of the total time spent online. (Source: Global Web Index)

Social media has had an enormous impact on our lives. The way we interact, learn, communicate, date, shop, market, advertise, analyze and earn money has changed due to social media. As of April 2020, there are 3.6 billion active social media users. Every minute of every day:

• More than 120 people join LinkedIn
• 4,146,600 YouTube videos are watched
• 456,000 tweets are sent on Twitter
• Spottily adds 13 new songs
• 300 new Facebook profiles are made across the globe.
• Instagram users post 46,740 photos

Crazy right?

Effective data collection, management, analysis and reporting, for both Big Data and normal sized business data is vital for business survival, and the importance will only continue to increase.

For those who have not yet jumped on the data train, do not stress. It’s not too late to implement effective systems, but remember that the longer you wait to leverage data, the more opportunities your business will miss out on. For tips on how to better leverage data, check out this blog by reconinsight.

For those who need help to create reports with live ERP data, Velixo Reports can help your company create accurate and insightful reports, lightning fast. Contact us today at [email protected].