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Cloud computing and services continue to impact how we engage personally and professionally in our increasingly digital world. We compiled 36 of the most amazing and interesting cloud computing statistics illustrating how much the cloud is a part of our lives.
Written by Jason Stagnitto (Writer )
Reviewed by Aleksander Hougen (Managing Editor )
Last Updated: 02 Feb'24 2024-02-02T07:21:49+00:00
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
The cloud was a nebulous idea not long ago, reserved for those heavily involved in the tech community. Today, it is a mainstream reality, leveraged by people from every corner of the globe. To illustrate this point, we’ve compiled a list of cloud computing statistics demonstrating how ingrained it is in our lives.
If you engage with the internet in some form, you’ve interacted with a cloud-based product or service. Whether you use cloud computing for personal or professional purposes, the trends on our list of statistics may surprise you.
Jason Stagnitto is a seasoned writer with over a decade of experience, specializing in cloud storage and online backup, and contributing to Cloudwards for over a year. Holding a Masters in IT from SNHU and a Bachelors in English and Historical and Political Studies from Chaminade University, Jason’s extensive educational background is complemented by his professional writing stints for platforms like Dogtown Media and CBT Nuggets. Beyond his technical expertise, he harbors a love for fantasy and sci-fi literature, movies, and a keen focus on health and well-being.
Aleksander Hougen, the managing editor at Cloudwards, is a seasoned expert in cloud storage, digital security and VPNs, with an educational background in software engineering. Beyond his prolific writing commitment, Aleksander helps with managing the website, keeping it running smoothly at all times. Outside of the professional realm, he is a digital nomad with a passion for traveling, having lived in many countries across four continents.
Learn more about our editorial team and our research process.
This article was rewritten to capture current data, trends and statistics.
Providing cloud computing services is a big business that has grown rapidly in recent years. It is common to find providers that offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Consumers have plenty of choices, but a few common names top the list.
Cloud infrastructure usage and adoption by commercial and private users continue to increase. In Q4 of 2022, according to a report by Canalys, “cloud infrastructure services expenditures grew 23% year on year”1. The report indicates rising costs and current inflation rates are the primary drivers.
Synergy reports that total year spending on cloud infrastructure services created $178 billion in revenue combined. Specifically in Q4, Synergy “estimates that quarterly infrastructure service revenues (including IaaS, PaaS, and hosted private cloud solutions) were $50.5 billion…”10
Amazon AWS is the market leader in total cloud spending with a 32% market share. Microsoft Azure is its closest competitor, owning a 23% market share. However, in 2022, AWS grew 20%, which is its lowest annual growth rate to date.1
From Q4 2021 to Q4 2022, Microsoft saw its cloud market grow 2% for an overall market share of 23% worldwide. Since 2018, Microsoft’s market share has increased 8%.10
The world stores a lot of data, with total cloud storage expected to reach 200 zettabytes by 2025, according to a report by Arcserve.11 This figure encompasses all data for both public and private IT infrastructure. Data centers, personal computing and the Internet of Things are also included in this projection.
The mobile gaming market continues to gain popularity, with a value of $108.15 billion in 2022, according to Facts and Factors. By 2030, the market share is projected to grow to $339.45 billion with a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.55%12. Check out our online gaming statistics article for more.
Global Mobile Gaming Market, 2023 vs 2030 Estimate
Cloud services have expanded beyond the need to store photos and free up disk space. Companies from every sector have adopted cloud-based services and products. Today, it is more common to find a business that uses the cloud than one that does not.
Less than a third of respondents (27%) said they encrypted 41-60% of their corporation data in an external cloud. Additionally, 12% of respondents indicated that 61-80% of corporate data is encrypted with a cloud service.18
Percentage of Encrypting Sensitive Cloud Data
Fortune Business Insights reports that large and small companies adopted one or more IaaS, SaaS or PaaS cloud services during 2022. Large companies saw an increase of 67%, and smaller companies increased cloud service use by 38%19.
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow at a staggering rate. We explore this more specifically in our ChatGPT statistics article and our AI writing statistics article. According to the Data and AI Leadership Executive survey administered by NewVantage Partners, 91% of companies are investing in AI initiatives with data management13. Part of the push to adopt AI is the positive results companies see from the investment.
Percent of Companies Adopting AI With Data Management
PwC’s recent Global Artificial Intelligence Study: Exploiting the AI Revolution estimates that AI could contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy14. If accurate, that number is more than the combined economic impact of China and India.
Of the nearly 2,800 respondents in the 2022 Thales Data Threat Report: Global Edition, 27% indicated using at least 50 SaaS apps, with a further 16% using 51-10018.
Businesses have the option to use a public or private cloud service. However, according to Flexera’s 2023 State of the Cloud Report, 71% of companies opt for a hybrid cloud strategy21.
Globally, cloud computing costs significantly increased in 2022 as cloud adoption for personal and private use increased. The top three cloud providers, Amazon, Microsoft and Google, dominated the market share as cloud costs became a top priority for businesses.
According to a report published by Markets and Markets, the total cloud computing market was valued at $545.8 billion in 20224. Some of the drivers of this figure are increased automation, return on investment and the increase in remote work culture.
Canalys reports that the combined amount spent on Amazon, Microsoft and Google cloud service providers accounted for 65% of the total money spent on cloud infrastructure in 2022. The big three brought in $42.77 billion of the total $65.8 billion spent in 20221.
The total worth of personal cloud storage was $20.8 billion in 2022, according to a report by Markets and Markets7. Personal cloud is used to store folders, files, photos and music with the ability to share these items with others.
According to a report published by AAG, 82% expressed concerns about managing cloud spending6. These concerns are not limited to business size, as both enterprises and SMBs consider cloud costs a challenge.
The IDC reports that by the end of 2023, global spending on AI development will be $154 billion. By 2026, the number could increase to $300 billion22.
By 2025, the global cloud application market is projected to reach $168.6 billion by 2025, according to a study conducted by Apps Run The World23.
Many of the familiar names sprinkled throughout these statistics are the ones that provide cloud infrastructure services. Businesses commonly use IaaS as it helps reduce overhead and upkeep costs. Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure are the market leaders.
Worldwide, the IaaS market grew by 29.7% in 2022, according to a report by Gartner. “Cloud has been elevated from a technology disruptor to a business disruptor,” said Sid Nag, VP Analyst at Gartner. “IaaS is driving software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) growth as buyers continue to add more applications to the cloud and modernize existing ones.2
Year over year, worldwide public cloud services revenue grew by 22.9% in 2022, per a report from the International Data Corporation. SaaS is the largest public cloud type, accounting for 45% of revenue3.
Despite the increased demand for digital services and more people online, overall global energy consumption by data centers was between 1-1.5%15. One of the reasons outlined by the IEA report includes energy efficiency improvements, which helped keep consumption low.
Data centers, which are networks of computing and storage resources that deliver shared applications and data, topped 9,000 worldwide in 2023, according to Statista5.
According to Analytics Adrift, China Telecom-Inner Mongolia Information Park is the largest data center in the world at over 10 million square feet. The data center has a 50% share of the Chinese data market24.
According to the annual survey by the Uptime Institute, 60% of respondents had suffered an outage in the last three years, which is down from 69% in 2021 and 78% in 2020. Of the outages reported in 2022, 14% were categorized as “severe” or “serious”, which again is down from around 20% in previous years29.
Personal cloud storage is a massive business, with billions of people using cloud storage. Of the many options available, most people prefer Google Drive and Dropbox. Additionally, most personal cloud storage users access their accounts using mobile devices.
In 2020, an estimated 2.3 billion people used personal cloud storage6, according to AAG. Google Drive, iCloud and Dropbox were the most popular cloud storage services.
More than half of personal cloud storage users have multiple accounts. Per a Goodfirms survey, 54.62% of respondents indicated using three different cloud storage platforms. More than 50% of the survey respondents said they used a free or limited cloud storage plan8.
Most cloud storage services have mobile and desktop apps accompanying the web interface. According to a Goodfirms survey, only 10.65% of respondents preferred to use a desktop app8.
Google Drive is the most popular personal cloud storage service. According to Goodfirms, 94.44% prefer Google Drive. Dropbox is a distant second at 66.20%8.
Google Drive surpassed a billion account holders in 2018, making it the most used cloud storage provider25. By now, that number is undoubtedly higher.
Cybersecurity continues to be a significant factor in cloud computing management. Data breaches, ransomware and exposed emails are a few of the many ways cybercrime has wide-ranging impacts. Economically, cybercrimes impact the global economy well into the trillions of dollars. Therefore, it is important to consider container security as a key aspect in mitigating these risks.
Despite cybersecurity professionals’ best efforts, the average business cost of a data breach was $4.35 million in 2022, per a report by AAG. Additionally, cybercrime impacted the global economy by $7 trillion20.
Fortune Business Insights cites a survey conducted by Ermetic Ltd. where 80% of responding businesses had at least one data breach in an 18-month period during 20209.
Per an AAG report, 1 in 5 internet users were affected by almost 1 billion emails being exposed from cybercrimes like phishing attacks. Phishing attacks cost victims an average of $13620.
North Americans were the most likely group to experience an account breach in 2021. AAG reports that 1 in 2 people from the North American continent suffered an account breach20.
Due to the interconnected nature of global supply chains, security vulnerabilities present an opportunity for cybercriminals. According to AAG, up to 40% of cybercrimes occur somewhere in a given supply chain20.
According to a whitepaper published by Arcserve, Ransomware is “the most infectious disease known to humankind.” It predicted in 2021 that businesses will be a victim of ransomware every 11 seconds. The cost reaches upwards of $20 billion11.
The National Cyber Security Index measures a country’s readiness to prevent and manage cybersecurity incidents. Greece was the top nation in 2023, scoring 96.1020.
The 2022 Thales Data Report: Global Edition reported that of the nearly 2,800 respondents, 83% indicated that at least half of their sensitive data is unencrypted while stored in the cloud18.
Cloud computing is a part of our everyday personal and professional lives. It will continue to grow in size and scale as more people adopt its uses. Some of these stats are interesting, and some are concerning. All are relevant and paint a picture of a cloud-dominated future.
Which were the most interesting statistics to you? How much do you engage with the cloud? What are some other interesting stats or facts about the cloud? Let us know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading our article.
According to a report published by Markets and Markets, the total cloud computing market was valued at $545.8 billion in 2022 [4].
Fortune Business Insights reports that 67% of large and 38% of small companies adopted one or more cloud services during 2022 [19].
Amazon AWS is the cloud service provider market leader. Canalys estimates Amazon AWS has a 32% market share [1].
Spending on the cloud is a top concern among companies of all sizes. The cloud application market is a good example, as it’s expected to reach $168.6 billion by 2025, per Apps Run The World [23]
An article published by Cloud 7 IT Services indicates that adopting a zero-trust mindset and exploring AI and machine learning for advanced threat detection are two emerging trends [28].
One thought on “37 Cloud Computing Statistics, Facts & Trends for 2024”
Thank you for sharing this great article! But I have one question though, in the diagram of part5, how is the data calculated, or measured? For example, google drive has a 94.4% rate, I just wonder how this number came out. Would appreciate it if you can explain it , thanks!
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