Nigerians Average Monthly Data Usage Up 20% in 2023

Nigerians are consuming data at an increasing rate, with the average monthly usage reaching 9GB in 2023, according to a recent report. This represents a significant jump of approximately 20% compared to 2022.

The surge in data consumption is reflected in the financial statements of major mobile network operators (MNOs) like MTN and Airtel. MTN reported a 27% increase in data consumption by its subscribers, with the average user consuming 8.9GB per month in 2023 compared to 7GB in 2022. This translated to a corresponding rise in data revenue for MTN, climbing from N764.8 billion in 2022 to N1.07 trillion in 2023.

Airtel also witnessed a similar trend, with their average customer spending N3,127 ($2.4) on data monthly as of March 2024. This indicates a 19% year-on-year growth compared to N2,606 ($2) in the same period of 2023. Data usage per Airtel customer also saw a significant increase of 25.4%, rising from 5.0GB to 6.3GB per month in the same timeframe.

Also Read: Nigerians Consume Nearly 9 Exabytes of Data in One Month

While data consumption is rising, spending habits for voice calls also show an upward trend. MTN subscribers spent an average of N2,508 monthly on voice calls in 2023, reflecting a 14.4% increase compared to 2022. Airtel customers followed a similar pattern, with the average voice call spending reaching N1,694 ($1.3) per month as of March 2024, representing a 21.5% year-on-year growth.

This trend suggests a growing reliance on both data and voice services by Nigerians to stay connected, communicate, and access information.

The reasons behind this surge in data consumption are multifaceted. The growing affordability of smartphones and data plans, coupled with the ever-expanding reach of mobile broadband networks, has undoubtedly played a major role. Additionally, the rise of video streaming services, social media platforms, and mobile gaming applications continues to fuel data demand.

This trend is likely to continue in the coming years, presenting both opportunities and challenges for MNOs in Nigeria. They will need to invest in expanding network capacity and developing innovative data packages to cater to the evolving needs of their data-hungry customers.