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The 95% figure was a Cisco forecast published in 2018, not a confirmed measurement of what happened in 2021. Cisco projected that cloud data center traffic would make up 95% of total global data center traffic by 2021, up from 88% in 2016. The figure concerns traffic inside and between data centers—not 95% of internet traffic or consumer activity.
What Cisco’s 95% figure means
Cisco announced the projection on February 5, 2018, in its seventh annual Global Cloud Index, which covered 2016–2021. It forecast the share of total global data center traffic represented by cloud data center traffic. The release did not establish the observed share for 2021, so the 95% figure should be described as a forecast, not as a verified outcome.
Cisco’s accompanying numbers show the scale it expected:
| Measure | 2016 figure | 2021 figure in Cisco’s 2018 forecast |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud share of total data center traffic | 88% | 95% |
| Global cloud data center traffic | 6.0 zettabytes per year | 19.5 zettabytes per year |
| Hyperscale data centers worldwide | 338 | 628 |
These are figures reported or projected in Cisco’s 2018 release, not current measurements. Cisco also forecast that cloud data center traffic would grow 3.3-fold from 2016 to 2021, a 27% compound annual growth rate. Cisco’s February 5, 2018 announcement contains the headline projection and these supporting figures.
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Why data center traffic is not internet traffic
“Data center traffic” includes data exchanged among systems while applications run. Cisco’s explanation identifies traffic that remains within a data center—such as exchanges involving storage, development and production infrastructure, and application systems—as the largest component of data center traffic. Much of the traffic counted in the forecast therefore does not leave the data center for an end user.
That distinction rules out a common misreading: Cisco did not forecast that 95% of internet traffic, browsing, or downloads would come from cloud services. Its figure was about the composition of traffic in data centers, including internal system-to-system flows. Cisco explains this traffic context in its article, “Five things that are bigger than the Internet: Findings from this year’s Global Cloud Index.”
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What Cisco included under “cloud”
Cisco described cloud computing as platforms that provide on-demand access to a shared pool of configurable resources, including networks, servers, storage, applications, and services. Its definition covered private, public, and hybrid cloud deployments. Cloud data centers could be operated by service providers or by private enterprises.
As a result, the forecast was not limited to public cloud companies. It covered a broad category of cloud platforms and their data center traffic under Cisco’s accounting.
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Was the 95% forecast reached in 2021?
The Cisco release establishes what the company predicted in 2018; it does not establish whether the prediction came true. Without an observed 2021 result tied to a comparable definition and measurement, the accurate conclusion is that attainment remains unconfirmed here. The 95% figure is useful as a historical forecast, not as evidence of the actual 2021 traffic mix.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Cisco said about the forecast
In the February 5, 2018 release, Kip Compton, Cisco’s Vice President of Cloud Platform and Solutions Group, said: “Data center application growth is clearly exploding in this new multicloud world. This projected growth will require new innovations especially in the areas of public, private and hybrid clouds.”
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