By Juliet Umeh

Nigerians consumed a record-breaking 1.04 million terabytes of data in May 2025, marking the highest monthly usage since the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC began tracking this metric in 2023.

A terabyte, TB is a unit of digital storage capacity, specifically equal to 1,024 gigabytes, GB, or 1,000,000 megabytes, MB. It represents a large amount of data, often used to describe the storage capacity of hard drives, cloud storage, and other digital storage devices.

This staggering consumption occurred despite a slight decrease in active internet subscriptions, highlighting an intensified per-user data appetite across the nation.

According to NCC’s latest industry statistics, this figure represents a 14.6 percent spike from April’s 983,283 terabytes and surpasses the previous peak of 1 million terabytes recorded in January 2025.

Yet, during this period, internet subscriptions fell modestly from 141.9 million in April to 141.5 million in May.

Mobile network operators, MNOs, which dominate the sector, bore the brunt of the decline. Subscriptions across MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile dropped from 141.4 million to 141 million.

Despite a decline in active internet subscriptions, analysts attribute the climbing data consumption to the ascendance of video content, with short-form videos being a primary catalyst.

The heightened engagement on platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and Snapchat Spotlight underscores their critical role in driving current data usage trends.

Streaming services optimized for mobile, such as Netflix Mobile, Showmax, IrokoTV, and IbakaTV, also contribute to the surge, delivering compressed but still data-intensive entertainment.

This is further corroborated by Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, IXPN, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, Nigeria’s premier neutral IXP.

Rudman recently highlighted that social media videos significantly drive data consumption in the country. His remarks were made during a Lagos conference held to commemorate the IXPN achieving a 1 terabit per second milestone in local internet traffic.

Smarter phones, heavier consumption

The increasing availability of affordable 4G-enabled smartphones is accelerating the trend. With over 60 percent of broadband users now on 4G, modern devices are shipping with apps that auto-play videos, sync files, and update in the background, often without user awareness.

A tech support specialist in Lagos, Ugochi Nnaji, said: “People buy data thinking they will ration it, but these phones are like silent data vampires. From WhatsApp backups to Instagram refreshes, everything is happening quietly and constantly.”

A lifestyle gone online

Beyond entertainment, daily life in Nigeria has shifted online. Remote work, virtual learning, live-streamed worship, and online businesses are now the norm, further pushing up individual data demand.

A Lagos state university student, Kehinde Olamide, said: “I had to upgrade from 5GB to 15GB monthly, and it still finishes before the month ends. My school, side hustle, and leisure are all on the internet now.”

Faster internet, bigger appetite

Improved internet speeds, thanks to 5G rollout and expanding fiber-optic networks, are also driving up consumption. As buffering decreases, binge-watching and online gaming become more seamless and addictive.

Telecom analyst, Hafsat Lawal, said: “With faster internet, people consume more without even noticing. The convenience makes high data usage feel effortless.”

Urban boom, rural gaps

While urban centers like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt are fueling the data surge, digital exclusion remains a challenge in rural communities, where network infrastructure and device affordability lag behind.

Experts caution that the rising national average may obscure a widening gap in access, highlighting the need for inclusive infrastructure investment.

Nigeria’s record-breaking data consumption in May, despite a dip in internet users, underscores a growing digital intensity among individual users. It’s a story of smartphones becoming indispensable tools, video reigning supreme, and life itself migrating online.

For telecom operators, the numbers signal a booming opportunity. For regulators and policymakers, they pose a pressing challenge: to ensure that infrastructure, affordability, and access keep pace with Nigerians’ surging digital appetite.