How many GB is normal to use in a month?
How much data do I use? Ofcom's Communications Market Report 2022 said that the average person used 5.6GB of data per month in 2021. This was up by 24% on 2020's 4.5GB per month. In fact, mobile data use has increased by roughly 20-30% every year since 2016.
The average internet user consumes 533.8GB per month on their home internet plan, according to a recent report from OpenVault. The number of internet users who consume more than 500GB each month is steadily climbing each year.
Indeed, according to NPD, the average U.S. smartphone user now consumes a total of 31.4 GB of data on a monthly basis (a figure that includes both Wi-Fi and cellular consumption). That's up fully 25% from a year prior.
5GB should be plenty for the person who's never not connected to the nearest Wi-Fi network. That's enough to download four apps, browse the web for 5 hours and send about 10,000 emails per day.
Time duration with 1GB*
As you can see, a 1GB bundle is quite small, and doesn't allow you to do a lot each month before it runs out. For reference, there are 720 hours in an average month, so if you watched one hour-long Netflix episode in standard definition, you'd be out of data!
The sufficiency of 3GB of data for a month depends on your usage. If you mainly use your data for light browsing, checking emails, and using social media apps, 3GB could be sufficient. However, if you frequently stream videos, download large files, or use data-heavy apps, you may find 3GB to be insufficient.
You might be wondering, Is 30Gb of data a lot? Well, 30 GB of data is ample to consume in a month. Most people can only use 15-20 GB in a month. Whether this data plan is sufficient for you or nods at your usage and how frequently you watch the long form of movies, such as movies and seasons.
Streaming services, playing online games, using apps, sharing files, and sending files in a hidden mode – all require fuel. Instagram will take about 6MB of data per hour of active use, while mobile games tend to range from 10MB to over 100MB per hour of gameplay.
20GB of data gives you the opportunity to do so much more on your mobile. Streaming, browsing and messaging daily is no problem, and you will rarely run out of data with such a high amount, especially if you are only browsing the web. 20GB of data allows for: 240 hours of web browsing.
20GB per month is considered to be a fairly large amount of mobile data, alongside 30GB and 50GB. Ofcom's 2021 report claims that most users have an average of 4.5GB of mobile data for the month, so 20GB is definitely above average.
Is 6 GB enough for a month?
6GB can last for a fair amount of time if you're an average mobile data user. Check out our table below to see how long these activities last with 6GB per month. 6GB of data allows you to browse the internet for almost a whole week non-stop! Alternatively, you could FaceTime a friend or loved one for an hour every day.
According to Ofcom, the average person uses around 2.9GB of data per month, a statistic which is rising each year with the evolution of technology. That means 10GB is most likely more than enough for the average phone user.
With a monthly plan that includes 4 GB of data, you can watch 300 minutes of video per month (the equivalent of ten 30-minute sitcoms), surf 50 web pages daily, upload 10 pictures, stream 15 minutes of music and send 50 emails every day. In this case, you'd still use only 3.61 GB.
| User type | Monthly data usage |
|---|---|
| Minimal use (basic browsing, messaging) | Up to 2GB |
| Light use (social media, some video streaming) | 2-5GB |
| Regular use (frequent video streaming, many app downloads) | 5-10GB |
| Heavy use (extensive video streaming, large file transfers) | 10GB+ |
As a rough guide, 1GB of data would let you do one of the following: Watch one hour and 20 minutes of video at Standard Definition. Stream roughly eight hours of high quality music (320kbps) Send or receive about 1000 emails.
On a mobile data plan, using more than your allowance each month usually attracts a surcharge, or your provider may slow down your data connection. Your provider may automatically give you the extra data as a top-up and charge you for it as you use it. This extra data is sometimes called an add on.
Today, 2GB of data is generally best suited to people who only use their phone for a handful of things, like browsing the internet, but not watching HD videos. In most cases, 2GB simply won't be enough data to share a lot of images over social media, or listen to music online.
Theoretically, you could browse the internet for eight whole days without stopping before hitting your 5GB limit! In a more practical example, you could browse for a couple of hours every few days for the entire month. You could also stream music for hours at a time, depending on which audio quality you opt for.
How much is 3GB of data? This amount of data lets you send or receive about 12,000 emails with standard sized attachments. Or in terms of browsing online, you'll get about is 60 hours' worth. Here are some guidelines based on average use — your actual usage may be slightly higher or less.
With 25GB of data, you could stream audio for a very long time each month, though it's unlikely you'd find time to listen to 578 hours of music! Needless to say, you would have more than enough data to browse the internet and social media. You'd also have plenty of room to watch videos too.
Will 15 GB last me a month?
For the record, there's 720 hours in 30 days (an average month). With 15GB of data, you could (theoretically) do a bunch of these tasks non-stop for about a quarter of the month. You're most likely not going to do that though, meaning 15GB should last you easily, unless you constantly stream videos every day!
50 GB is a lot of data when it comes to most internet activities. Using up 50 GB is a difficult task without using some really data-heavy tasks. If all you're doing is browsing websites, you'd have to browse for about 83 hours per day to use all 50 GB in a month. Good luck with that!
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Network & internet. Internet.
- Next to your carrier, tap Settings .
- Tap Data warning & limit.
- If it's not already on, turn on Set data limit. Read the on-screen message and tap Ok.
- Tap Data limit.
- Enter a number. ...
- Tap Set.
25GB is roughly enough data for any one of the following: 1250 Hours browsing. 6000 Music Tracks. 160 Hours streaming music.
Your data should normally refresh every month or 30 days, so theoretically you have an average of 720 hours to fill a month. 100GB can last almost non-stop for the entire month, so you'd never have to connect to Wi-Fi if you didn't want to.
