• Average monthly data usage reaches 14.9 GB per user
• WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube remain top social media platforms

The average Sri Lankan uses almost 15GB of data per month with usage increasing by 11% in the first nine months of 2024, Capital Alliance Limited (CAL) said.

According to CAL’s findings, from January to September 2024, data usage grew by 11%, while broadband subscriptions only rose by 1%, highlighting that data consumption is outpacing subscription growth.

Therefore, the average usage of data per month which stood at 13.4 GB in January has increased to 14.9 GB by the end of September.

Moreover, CAL said that by the end of Q3, over half of Sri Lanka’s population had been actively using WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube, highlighting the country’s strong digital engagement.

WhatsApp is Sri Lanka’s top social media platform, used by 63% of the population while Facebook takes second place with 60% usage and YouTube third place with 58%.

The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) statistics for Q3 show that mobile broadband subscriptions stood at 20.4 million by the end of Q3 2024.

TRCSL data also showed that the total data usage of 1.02 TB was recorded in Q3 which is the highest when compared to the other two quarters of the year.

According to the Q3 financial statement by Sri Lanka Telecom, the service provider earned Rs. 32.4 billion from mobile operations in the quarter, an increase from Rs 30.7 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.

Meanwhile, Dialog Axiata PLC which acquired 100% shares of Bharti Airtel Lanka in the quarter recorded revenue of Rs. 82.8 billion from mobile operations as of the end of Q3 2024.