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Nigerians Used 94,383 TB More Data in August, While Mobile Subscribers Grew by Only 0.5%
Nigeria’s internet use climbed faster in August than the number of people using it, a gap that says more about how Nigerians go online than about how many of them do.
According to figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission, total internet usage rose from 1,662,021.45 terabytes in July to 1,756,404.82 terabytes in August. That is an increase of 94,383 terabytes, or 5.68 percent in one month, and the highest monthly total since the regulator began publishing the series in 2023. Compared with August 2025, when usage was about 1.15 million terabytes, the August 2026 figure is roughly 52 percent higher, a year-on-year calculation based on the NCC data.
The subscriber side moved far more slowly. Mobile GSM internet subscriptions grew by 794,416, from 157.27 million in July to 158.07 million in August, a monthly rise of about 0.5 percent. In other words, a growth rate of half a percent in subscribers sat beside a growth rate of nearly six percent in traffic. The country added fewer than a million mobile internet connections yet used almost 100,000 terabytes more data, which points to heavier use by people who were already online rather than a flood of newcomers.
Fixed connections grew quickly from a much smaller base. Fixed internet subscriptions rose from 204,082 to 227,910, an increase of 23,828 or 11.7 percent in a single month. Reports on the same NCC release also show broadband subscribers, those on higher-speed connections, increasing from 124.4 million to 126.2 million in August. Both movements suggest users are shifting toward faster connections just as consumption climbs.
What do those numbers mean for the average user? One report that divided August traffic by roughly 158.5 million internet subscribers put typical monthly consumption at about 11.41 gigabytes per person. That is a simple average and hides large differences: a household streaming video all day uses far more than someone who mainly sends messages, and the subscriber count used differs slightly between reports. Still, the trend is clear. Usage has risen for 12 consecutive months from August 2025 to July 2026 alongside a growing subscriber base, according to a ThisDay analysis of NCC statistics.
Why is data demand outpacing connections? Analysts point to the daily habits that eat data: video streaming and automatic video playback, social media, fintech and banking apps, remote work tools and background updates on newer smartphones, which can raise consumption depending on settings and habits. The pattern is not new. Nigeria recorded 7.27 million terabytes in 2023 and 9.76 million in 2024, a rise of 34.3 percent, and the NCC reported that traffic in 2025 was on course to exceed 13.2 million terabytes. In the first half of 2026, Nigerians consumed 8.52 million terabytes against 5.96 million in the same period of 2025, a 43 percent rise. A BusinessDay estimate that multiplied those volumes by an average benchmark of ₦431 per gigabyte put the implied value of data consumed at about ₦3.67 trillion for the half year. That figure is a calculation, not operator revenue, and the benchmark is an assumption.
The growth carries costs. More traffic puts pressure on towers, fibre links and data centres, which is the point the NCC keeps making when it calls for more investment in telecom infrastructure to widen coverage, improve quality and reach underserved communities, a goal tied to the government’s $1 trillion economy ambition. Heavier use per customer can strengthen operators’ data revenue, since MTN Nigeria reported ₦1.699 trillion in data revenue for the first half of 2026, but it also means congestion if capacity does not keep up. For consumers, the squeeze shows up in network quality and in bills, since tariffs rose earlier this year.
Two cautions are worth noting. Monthly figures swing with calendar effects and seasonal events, so one strong month does not set a trend by itself. And totals mix mobile and fixed traffic, so the NCC release alone does not say which activity drove the jump. The next releases, covering September and October, will show whether August was a peak or the start of another step up.
