Update:
THE PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK USAGE WORLDWIDE IN 2017: RUSSIA CLAIMS TOP SPOT
The following numbers represent the peer-to-peer network usage for all of 2017: On average, around 27 million P2P users have downloaded and shared files in peer-to-peer networks per day. Considering that file sharers are active on more than just one day, the number of daily file sharers in 2017 adds up to almost 10 billion!
The top 5 file sharing countries:
NEARLY HALF OF FILE SHARERS WORLDWIDE DOWNLOAD MOVIES IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS
To find out what content type kept file sharers busiest all year, we had a look at the files being downloaded and shared over peer-to-peer networks in 2017. The number of active file sharers who download at least one file of the following content types per day distributes as follows:
• 48.6% for identified movies titles • 26.9% for identified TV show titles • 19.7% for identified game titles • 10.9% for songs of identified music artists
PERCENTAGES AND NUMBERS ARE NICE, BUT WHAT TITLES AND MUSIC ARTISTS WERE SHARED MOST IN 2017?
The most popular music artist shared in peer-to-peer networks was Ed Sheeran! Next to every music file by identified artists, his music has been downloaded and shared by the highest number of fans in peer-to-peer networks during this past year. With a total of 6,534,000 file sharers, Ed Sheeran seized the throne of top music artists in 2017! Following close behind, Major Lazer and Drake landed in spots 2 and 3.
2017’s most popular game in peer-to-peer networks was “The Sims 4”, with more than 36 million file sharers. However, the most popular game released in 2017 was "Resident Evil – Biohazard."
As for TV shows, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” claimed spot two of the most popular shows downloaded and shared in peer-to-peer networks. And “Vikings”, another TV show we’ve reported on several times, finally made it to spot 5 for 2017!
“The Fate of the Furious”, one of the most popular movies in 2017 (we covered its release in April 2017) was downloaded and shared by more than 41 million P2P users from all over the world.
WHAT TORRENT CLIENTS WERE USED BY PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK USERS TO DOWNLOAD AND SHARE?
This year, there hasn’t been much movement when it comes to the file sharers’ preferred torrent clients. Therefore, similar to the numbers reported below, uTorrent remained No. 1 as the most-used torrent, followed by libtorrent, uTorrent mac, qbittorrent and MediaGet!
THE PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING LANDSCAPE 2017: WHAT; WHERE AND HOW DID P2P USERS SHARE FROM JANUARY TO OCTOBER 2017?
November 16, 2017
We’re nearing the end of 2017, which means it’s time to analyze what has been shared in peer-to-peer networks around the world again!
Since July 2012, TECXIPIO has been monitoring and analyzing the activity in peer-to-peer networks worldwide. By gathering peer-to-peer file sharing data and classifying it by content types, countries/cities and quality levels, TECXIPIO provides a powerful source of worldwide market data. This enables unique and valuable insights into the entertainment industry, even if the content has not yet been officially released in certain markets. Alongside the data currently available, TECXIPIO aimed to answer the following questions:
1. What content is the most popular? 2. When is it the most popular? 3. Where is it the most popular?
The following analysis will provide information about the number of P2P users worldwide who are engaged in downloading and sharing movies, TV series, games and songs of music artists. For this analysis, data detailing the average daily file sharers who were actively casting torrent files onto peer-to-peer networks from January through October 2017 was evaluated and sorted by country.
MORE THAN 27.4 MILLION FILE SHARERS STILL USE PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS EACH DAY
Over the last 10 months, an average of more than 27.4 million file sharers worldwide were actively spreading at least one file in peer-to-peer networks every day. That means that almost 1% of worldwide internet users engage in file sharing over peer-to-peer networks per day.* Considering that file sharers are often active on several days, the number of daily file sharers adds up to 8.34 billion from January to October 2017.
But what content are file sharers interested in? And in what countries is file sharing most popular?
WHAT FILES ARE SHARED IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS WORLDWIDE?
ALMOST 50% OF DAILY FILE SHARERS ARE ENGAGED IN MOVIE PIRACY!
In the given time period, an average of 16.7 million file sharers shared at least one video file per day on peer-to-peer networks, which constitutes almost 61% of the daily file sharers worldwide. 13.36 million of them were sharing identified movies! This means that the files contained copyrighted films of varying qualities – ranging from cam-rips to full HD versions – the sharing of which is illegal. Some movies were even made available in peer-to-peer networks before their official release dates, which is also known as leaked material. Overall, 48.6% of daily file sharers worldwide engage in movie piracy.
The top country for movie piracy is Russia, followed by India, China, Brazil and South Korea.
If you are interested in discovering more about P2P users’ movie consumption in India for example, check out our latest top list of file sharers’ favorite Bollywood Hindi movies released in 2017!
27% OF USERS IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS DOWNLOAD AND SHARE COPYRIGHTED FILES OF TV SHOWS
Another considerable segment of the activity in peer-to-peer networks since January 2017 has been the sharing of TV series, with an average of 7.37 million P2P users downloading and sharing these files. According to our figures, 26.9% of the world’s peer-to-peer network users shared TV show titles.
The highest number of peer-to-peer users sharing TV series was also in Russia, followed by China, Brazil, India and South Korea.
ALMOST 20% OF FILE SHARERS WORLDWIDE SHARED VIDEO GAME FILES IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS
As for video games, 19.6% of peer-to-peer users worldwide also shared game titles. For every single day that passed between January and October 2017, an average of 5.38 million file sharers were actively engaged in downloading and sharing game titles. Measuring the whole time frame, this adds up to 1.64 billion file shares.
Peer-to-peer network users in Russia pass around video game files more than any of the other top countries. After that, China, Brazil, India and South Korea snag the next four spots as the top-ranking countries of file sharers downloading and sharing video game files in peer-to-peer networks.
The top five games worldwide, however, aren’t new releases at all – they’re titles that have sat on the shelves for years! “The Sims 4,” released in 2014, successfully defended its top spot against all other games with more than 31 million file sharers downloading and sharing it.
The top five games downloaded and shared in peer-to-peer networks from January to October 2017 by number of P2P users (in millions):
#1 - The Sims 4 – 31.30 #2 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – 23.82 #3 - Counter Strike: Global Offensive – 20.18 #4 - Grand Theft Auto V – 19.51 #5 - Grand Theft Auto – 18.50
3.03 MILLION FILE SHARERS ON AVERAGE SPREAD MUSIC FILES IN PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS EVERY DAY
But what about all of the peer-to-peer users downloading and sharing songs? Even though music-streaming platforms are becoming increasingly popular, a daily average of 3.03 million file sharers still shared music files in peer-to-peer networks in 2017. Accounting once again for the fact that file sharers may be downloading several titles of different artists on more than just one day, this number adds up to more than 918 million music file sharers daily. As a result, file sharers spreading music files in peer-to-peer networks account for 11% of the world’s P2P users in the given time period.
And just as it was with TV series and movies, Russian file sharers earned the top spot for downloading and sharing music files. Also similar to the other rankings, China landed the second spot, followed by Brazil in third, then India and South Korea in fourth and fifth respectively.
Top five music artists whose files were downloaded and shared in peer-to-peer networks from January to October 2017 by number of P2P users; this does not even take into account if the users were sharing multiple files over several days (in millions):
#1 - Ed Sheeran – 5.50 #2 - Major Lazer – 5.03 #3 - Drake – 4.94 #4 - Metallica – 4.32 #5 - Kendrick Lamar – 4.14
Interested in rankings of the top music artists shared in peer-to-peer networks worldwide? Start your research with October’s music file sharing charts!
WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE FILES SHARED MOST?
Compared with any other country, Russia dominates peer-to-peer network usage worldwide. With an average number of 3.95 million peer-to-peer users daily, Russia reclaims its title as the world’s top file sharing country. According to this number, 3.87% of all internet users in Russia are engaged in downloading and sharing files in peer-to-peer networks per day.*
And the average number of file sharers adds up to 1.2 billion when considering how file sharers are active for more than just one day. Therefore, P2P users in Russia constitute 14.4% of worldwide P2P users actively casting files in peer-to-peer networks.
Following Russia in the second spot, China had 3.03 million daily active file sharers on average and accounted for 11.05% of P2P users worldwide spreading files in peer-to-peer networks. Despite having the world’s largest population and nearly 50% internet penetration, the daily segment of total internet users spreading files over peer-to-peer networks in China is comparably small: only 0.42%.* From January to October 2017, however, the sum of daily file sharers in China adds up to 921 million.
With nearly half as many daily peer-to-peer users in China, Brazil and India earned the third (1.62 million) and fourth spot (1.53 million). Accordingly, Brazil and India are home to 5.91% and 5.56% of worldwide P2P users, respectively. Nevertheless, file sharers in Brazil seem to be sharing more than their South Asian followers: P2P users who shared at least one file in peer-to-peer networks per day make up 1.17% of total internet users in Brazil, and those in India draw a lower percentage of 0.33%.*
Last but not least, South Korea jumped into the fifth spot of the top file sharing countries. In the given period, an average of 1.4 million daily file sharers downloaded and shared at least one file in peer-to-peer networks. Therefore, South Korea accounted for 5.18% of P2P users worldwide from January to October 2017, and their sum of daily file sharers reached more than 430 million.
The following chart juxtaposes the top five file sharing countries by showing their daily average of file sharers, their sum of daily file sharers for the given period, their shares of P2P users worldwide and their shares of total number of internet users.
TORRENT CLIENTS USED FOR P2P FILE SHARING
TECXIPIO not only tracks where in the world the different content types are downloaded and shared daily by the 27.4 million P2P users worldwide, but also what torrent clients have been used.
What does that mean?
A torrent client is an application that enables peer-to-peer communication service through the BitTorrent file sharing protocol. With a torrent client, users connected across the world can download, share and seed files in peer-to-peer networks. uTorrent, Bittorrent, Xunlei, Azureus, PopcornTime, MediaGet and libtorrent are just a couple of clients that enable file sharers to up- and download their files into peer-to-peer networks.
What is the world’s most-used torrent client?
uTorrent is by far the most-used torrent client to download and share files in peer-to-peer networks, making up more than 63% of the world’s peer-to-peer sharing traffic. Following uTorrent with 3.28%, 3.22% and 2.48% respectively are uTorrent mac, libtorrent and qBittorrent.
If you want to see this article in more pictures, click through our presentation on SlideShare:
Source: TECXIPIO
Definition: The rankings are based on the number of unique file sharers: How many peers (file sharers) shared at least one file in the respective time period?
Further sources:
* http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/