A report from Canadian application and network company Sandvine shows that Netflix was the application contributing the largest downstream internet traffic globally in 2022. Downstream, in this context, refers to the speed of retrieving data from internet servers to a computer.
The video streaming platform Netflix contributed 14.93% to global downstream internet traffic last year.
“(This achievement) shows how Netflix has overtaken Google's YouTube, where the percentage of its total internet volume decreased in the first half of 2022,” according to the report titled *2023 Global Internet Phenomena Report*.
YouTube ranked second with 11.62% of global downstream internet traffic in 2022. According to Sandvine, YouTube's fall from the top spot is due to a shift in internet users' interest towards several short-video applications like TikTok.
The report states that the strength of Netflix's streaming content has propelled the company's recovery from the loss of hundreds of thousands of subscribers in the first quarter of last year.
“The billions of dollars Netflix invested in video content appears to be paying off, with titles like *Queen's Gambit*, *The Crown*, and updates like *Squid Game* helping it exceed its own expectations,” Sandvine wrote.
On the other hand, Disney+ only contributed 4.49% to global downstream internet traffic in 2022. Amazon Prime Video contributed 2.83% to global downstream internet traffic last year.
Besides video streaming applications, several of the world's most popular social media platforms also made the list of applications contributing the largest downstream internet traffic in 2022. These include TikTok (3.93%) and Facebook (2.87%), both significantly lower than Netflix.
Here are the top 10 applications with the largest downstream internet traffic in 2022:
1. Netflix: 14.93%
2. YouTube: 11.62%
3. Generic QUIC: 5.88%
4. Disney+: 4.49%
5. TikTok: 3.93%
6. HTTP Media Stream: 3.72%
7. Playstation Downloads: 2.95%
8. Xbox Live: 2.91%
9. Facebook: 2.87%
10. Amazon Prime: 2.83%
11. Other Applications: 43.87%