“How much data do I need?” is the first question every traveler asks, and almost nobody has a real answer. So we went and got one.
The Bcengi team took 10,000 random international trips by their travelers, January to September 2026, and looked at how much mobile data each one actually used.
The result is the 2026 International Mobile Data Usage Report, and you are welcome to share it around the World.
The short version: most travelers use a lot less than they think.
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The answer travelers are looking for
Median data used per trip, with the level that 90% of trips stayed under:
| Long weekend (2 to 4 days) | 0.5 GB, 90% under 2.84 GB |
| One week (6 to 8 days) | 1.38 GB, 90% under 6.5 GB |
| Two weeks (13 to 15 days) | 3.16 GB, 90% under 11.9 GB |
| Over a month | 10.85 GB median |
More than a third of all trips used less than 1 GB.
The findings that surprised everyone
- Daily use barely moves. About 220 MB a day, whether the trip lasts 5 days or 5 weeks.
- It’s very hard to guess in advance. Take two travelers on the same 8 to 14 day trip: in 40% of pairs, one used at least 5 times more data than the other.
- A small group uses most of the data. The heaviest 10% of trips used 53% of all the data, while the lightest half used just 6%.
- Some trips barely use any. 1 in 8 trips used less than 100 MB in total.
- China stands apart. 0.42 GB a day, about 56% more than Japan, the next highest destination.
- Borders get crossed. Almost half of all trips used data in two or more countries.
- Common pack sizes rarely fit. In a hypothetical comparison, 54% of trips would have used less than half of a 5 GB pack, while 29% would have needed more.
Want numbers for your niche?If your audience travels somewhere specific, or travels in a specific way, just reply.
The Bcengi team can pull figures for a particular country, region, trip length or type of traveler.
Ideas
- “How much data do you need for a week in [destination]?” The report has figures for 25 destinations, from China and Japan to Italy, Mexico and Thailand.
- A quick data planning guide for long weekends, one week, two weeks and longer stays, using the numbers above.
- Destination comparisons, such as Asia against Europe, or single-country trips against multi-country trips.
- A social post built on one surprising number and one chart.