Key Trends From Cloudflare Radar's 2024 Internet Review
NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2024 — Cloudflare has released its 2024 Radar Year in Review, providing an in-depth analysis of Internet trends and patterns observed globally and regionally. This year’s review marks the fifth annual publication of the report and includes new metrics covering traffic, adoption, connectivity, and email security. The insights draw on data collected from Cloudflare’s extensive network, which spans over 330 cities across 120 countries and processes an average of 63 million HTTP(S) requests per second.
Global Internet Traffic Growth
Internet traffic continued its upward trajectory in 2024, growing by 17.2% year-over-year. Google maintained its position as the most visited online service, while WhatsApp led the messaging category. Generative AI services, led by OpenAI, saw substantial traffic increases as the technology gained wider adoption. SpaceX’s Starlink achieved a notable 3.3x growth in global traffic, driven by expansion into new markets such as Malawi and Zimbabwe. In some regions, like Guinea, traffic growth soared to 350% above baseline levels, highlighting the dynamic nature of connectivity growth in underserved areas.
Adoption and Usage Patterns
Mobile device traffic accounted for 41.3% of global Internet activity, with Android dominating in regions like Africa and South Asia, where affordability is a key factor. Apple’s iOS retained a significant presence in wealthier markets such as the U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe. HTTP/2 was the most widely used web protocol, powering nearly half of global web requests, while HTTP/3 adoption climbed to 20.5%, reflecting a gradual shift toward faster, more secure protocols.
In terms of web development trends, React remained the dominant framework for building modern websites, while PHP and jQuery retained their popularity. Interestingly, Go surpassed NodeJS as the most commonly used language for automated API requests, signaling a shift in developer preferences.
Connectivity Challenges and Advances
In 2024, Cloudflare documented 225 major Internet disruptions globally, many of which were caused by government-directed shutdowns. Notable incidents included extended outages in Bangladesh and Cuba, the latter affected by severe power infrastructure issues following Hurricane Rafael. Meanwhile, IPv6 adoption showed steady growth, with India and Malaysia leading with adoption rates of 68.9% and 59.6%, respectively. Enhanced routing security was another area of improvement, with a 4.7% increase in the share of RPKI-valid IPv4 address space worldwide.
Countries with the fastest Internet speeds in 2024 included Spain, which averaged 292.6 Mbps in download speeds, thanks to robust fiber and 5G infrastructure. Spain’s advancements in connectivity were tied to its progress toward EU “Digital Decade” objectives.
Security Insights
Cloudflare mitigated 6.5% of global traffic as potentially malicious or customer-defined. The Gambling/Games sector emerged as the most targeted industry, edging out Finance, which led in previous years. Log4j vulnerabilities continued to pose significant threats, even three years after their initial disclosure, with attack activity on the rise.
The United States contributed to over a third of global bot traffic, with Amazon Web Services and Google being major sources. Cloudflare also observed that deceptive links and identity deception were the leading tactics in email-based attacks, with 4.3% of emails flagged as malicious in 2024.
Key Metrics for Email Security
Malicious email activity was particularly notable in March, April, and May, with spikes linked to deceptive link-based and identity deception attacks. Furthermore, certain top-level domains like .bar and .rest were identified as highly problematic, with over 99% of emails from these domains classified as spam or malicious. These findings underline the importance of vigilant email security measures to combat emerging threats.
Cloudflare’s 2024 Year in Review provides a comprehensive snapshot of Internet dynamics, offering valuable insights for organizations to adapt their strategies for 2025. For a more granular view, Cloudflare invites readers to explore interactive charts and maps on its dedicated microsite, offering country-specific trends and comparisons.
