TikTok has emerged as the top consumer of internet data in Uganda, accounting for an overwhelming 56% of all OTT traffic, according to a new report by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
The UCC data shows that TikTok’s data consumption far surpasses that of other popular platforms like WhatsApp and YouTube. Although TikTok and WhatsApp have nearly equal subscriber bases — 9.1 million and 9.2 million respectively — TikTok users consumed 22.4 million gigabytes of data, more than twice the 9.6 million gigabytes used on WhatsApp, which represented 24% of the traffic.
YouTube, another major player in the video space, registered 6.4 million users and used 5 million gigabytes, contributing 13% of the OTT data traffic.
“These figures highlight changing user habits, with video-based platforms now dominating Uganda’s digital landscape,” the UCC report noted.
Other platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter (X), and Netflix trailed behind, each contributing between 1% to 2% of traffic. Despite having fewer subscribers, Netflix’s 220,000 users consumed nearly 700,000 gigabytes, underscoring the data-heavy nature of video streaming.
The UCC says the statistics reflect current trends in content consumption, particularly among youth, who are increasingly turning to short-form video platforms like TikTok for entertainment and social interaction.
