Global internet data traffic surged to a historic 79 exabytes (EB) in 2025, underscoring the growing centrality of Internet Exchanges (IXPs) in powering today’s digital economy.
The figure represents a 16% increase from 2024 and more than double the volume recorded in 2020, according to data released by DE-CIX, the world’s largest Internet Exchange operator.
Driven by live sports streaming, AI workloads, cloud services, and billions of connected devices, the scale of traffic growth highlights how digital infrastructure is increasingly becoming as vital as physical infrastructure to modern economies.
To put the number in context, 79 exabytes is equivalent to streaming a full HD football match continuously for 2.2 million years.
Why This Matters: The Internet Exchange Effect
At the heart of this growth are Internet Exchanges, which allow networks, content providers, telecom operators, and cloud platforms to exchange traffic locally rather than routing it across continents. This not only reduces latency and cost but also improves reliability, resilience, and user experience.
This global trend mirrors developments closer to home. In Nigeria, the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) last year crossed a historic 1 terabit per second (Tbps) domestic traffic milestone, a development widely seen as a turning point for the country’s digital ecosystem.
The parallel is clear: as global IX hubs scale to handle exponential traffic growth, local IXPs like IXPN are becoming strategic national assets, enabling countries to retain traffic locally, strengthen digital sovereignty, and unlock economic value.
Live Events, AI and Peak Traffic Moments
Europe’s largest Internet Exchange, DE-CIX Frankfurt, recorded 48 EB of traffic in 2025, up 6% from the previous year.
The busiest day, 9 December 2025, coincided with a UEFA Champions League matchday featuring clubs such as Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Liverpool.
At peak, global throughput hit 26.99 terabits per second (Tbit/s), while Frankfurt alone reached a record 18.73 Tbit/s.
DE-CIX notes that if the data exchanged in just one second at peak were printed on paper, the stack would be 21 times higher than Mount Everest.
This pattern of traffic spikes from live sports and major events reflects what IXPN has observed locally: as more Nigerian users stream live content, use cloud-based platforms, and adopt AI-powered services, domestic traffic volumes continue to rise sharply.
Nigeria’s IXPN in a Global Context
IXPN’s 1Tbps milestone places Nigeria firmly within a global movement where Internet Exchanges are no longer passive infrastructure, but active enablers of innovation, fintech growth, AI deployment, and digital inclusion.
By keeping local traffic local, IXPN helps Nigerian banks, fintechs, content platforms, ISPs, and enterprises deliver faster services at lower costs, while reducing dependence on expensive international bandwidth.
As DE-CIX CEO Ivo Ivanov noted:
“The growth in global data traffic is being driven by streaming, AI workloads, billions of connected devices, and the rise of remote and hybrid work… resilient, high-capacity digital infrastructure has never been more critical.”
For Nigeria, IXPN represents that resilient backbone, quietly supporting everything from video calls and e-commerce to digital payments and government services.
Emerging Digital Hubs Echo Nigeria’s Trajectory
Beyond Europe, DE-CIX reports strong growth across North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. North American traffic rose to 11 EB, while hubs in Madrid and Dubai each recorded 2.7 EB.
Southeast Asia grew by 140%, reaching 1.2 EB, reflecting the rapid rise of younger digital economies.
These developments mirror Nigeria’s trajectory, where local internet traffic growth is increasingly decoupled from international transit, signalling maturity in the country’s digital infrastructure.
The Bigger Picture
As global data volumes race toward the 100-exabyte mark, the story is no longer just about scale, it is about where traffic flows, how efficiently it is exchanged, and who controls the infrastructure.
From Frankfurt to Lagos, Internet Exchanges are emerging as the invisible engines of the digital economy.
And with IXPN’s 1Tbps milestone, Nigeria is no longer just consuming the internet, it is actively shaping its digital future from within.
