Rise Above Research estimates 1.6 trillion photos will be taken in 2023

The number of photos captured globally has continued to grow after a decline caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with Rise Above Research estimating 1.6 trillion photos will be taken in 2023. This represents a 7.5% increase over 2022 and growth is expected to continue, driven by the popularity of smartphones.

“Photography is more popular than ever, when you consider the huge volumes of photos that are being taken every day,” said David Haueter, director and founder of Rise Above Research. “People are taking and sharing more photos than ever before in history and those numbers continue to rise, driven by smartphones and sharing via texting, social media and email. Photos have become a primary means of communication.”

As the number of photos taken continues to rise, so does the number of photos that are stored. Rise Above Research estimates there will be close to 10 trillion photos stored worldwide in 2023 on handsets, the Cloud and other storage media.

The 2023 Worldwide Image Capture Forecast report provides a five-year forecast for the number of photos expected to be taken globally. It also includes the shares of photos taken by smartphones, cameras, and tablets; which regions of the world are most photo-active; and the cumulative number of photos saved.