Despite its reputation, torrenting has many legal uses. For example, many open-source software projects can be shared via torrents, as can large files too big to be sent through traditional means, such as scientific datasets or video game mods.
Others use torrenting to distribute their own content, such as videos or music, to a wide audience. So, is torrenting worth exploring for you or your business?
See these top torrenting statistics and trends to help you decide.
Top 6 Torrenting Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- BitTorrent was the first torrenting client ever introduced.
- People in the UK are the heaviest users of the BitTorrent Android app.
- uTorrent has an annual revenue of between $10m-$15m as of February 2023.
- A majority of Vuze.com visitors are men.
- Most of qBittorrent’s visitors are from China.
- Reddit contributes the most Deluge traffic as of February 2023.
Infographic
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/torrenting-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-torrenting-statistics.png" alt="Top 6 Torrenting Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="695.02262443439" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-torrenting-statistics-768x695.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-torrenting-statistics-300x272.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-torrenting-statistics-1024x927.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/top-torrenting-statistics.png 1326w" sizes="auto"></a>
Interesting Torrenting Facts
1. Torrenting is legal globally.
As of January 2023, there are no laws anywhere that prohibit torrenting.
However, sharing copyrighted content via torrent platforms is illegal in most countries.
2. Many torrent sites are hosted by QuadraNet.
QuadraNet is based in the United States, and some popular torrent sites that use their services include uTorrent and BitTorrent.
3. KickAss Torrents was taken down in 2016.
The one-time popular torrenting site was rumored to bring in $17 million annually before it was shut down in 2016, and the owner, Artem Vaulin, was arrested.
4. Private Torrent Trackers are invite-only.
These are members-only BitTorrent communities that share unique interests.
Most are known to have better content of higher quality, faster downloads, and minimized risks. Leechers are never allowed.
5. Public Torrent Trackers come with higher risks.
Due to the lack of enforcement and the ability of anyone to access public torrent trackers, the chances of running into malicious content are higher. Examples of popular public torrent trackers include PirateBay, RARBG, Kickass Torrents, and 1337X.
Piracy Statistics
6. Torrent users were arrested in 2021 for downloading and uploading 120TB of copyrighted material.
6 people associated with two torrenting groups, DanishBytes and ShareUniversity, were arrested in 2021 for distributing over 3000 copyrighted works ranging from books, music, movies, TV shows, and comics audiobooks.
7. Music torrenting declined from 2015 to 2021.
Music streaming platforms generated $523.9 million in 2021, which was cited as a reason for plummeting music piracy in the last six years.
8. China leads in the global use of pirated software.
As of 2022, China, Russia, the United States, India, and Germany were the top 5 destinations for pirated software globally.
9. Google censors pirate domains.
Google has been deindexing any site involved with torrenting since 2017.
So far, this has been achieved in the Netherlands, France, Norway, the UK, Lithuania, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Brazil, with plans to spread to other countries.
10. A Man Called Otto was the most torrented movie the week ending on March 6th, 2023
It was followed by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Knock at the Cabin, and The Whale.
For more piracy stats, see 40+ Piracy Statistics, Facts and Trends.
BitTorrent Statistics
11. BitTorrent was the first torrenting client ever introduced.
The P2P file-sharing protocol was founded in 2001 by Bram Cohen.
Some of the most popular torrenting clients that use it include μTorrent, Deluge, qBittorrent, Vuze, and Tixati.
12. BitTorrent’s parent company is based in the United States.
BitTorrent, Inc has its headquarters in San Francisco, California, with between 50 and 200 employees as of 2023.
13. People in the UK are the heaviest users of the BitTorrent Android app.
The BitTorrent and BitTorrent Pro Android apps are the most used in the United Kingdom as of March 2023.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/torrenting-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bittorrent-in-uk.png" alt="People in the UK Are the Heaviest Users of the BitTorrent Android App" width="768" border="0" height="415.82320441989" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bittorrent-in-uk-768x416.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bittorrent-in-uk-300x162.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bittorrent-in-uk-1024x554.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/bittorrent-in-uk.png 1448w" sizes="auto"></a>
14. Bittorent.com had an average of 3.93 million visitors between December 2022 and February 2023.
India had the highest number of visitors at 10.57%, followed by The United States (8.30%), Russia (7.04%), Brazil (4.12%), and the United Kingdom (3.72%).
15. There are more male BitTorrent website visitors than females.
As of February 2023, the BitTorrent audience was 73.38% male, with the remaining 26.62% made of women.
16. 25-34 year olds visited BitTorrent more than any other age group.
This represented 33.16% of the total BitTorrent website visitors as of 2023.
This data was based on desktop users only.
| Age Group | Usage (%) |
|---|---|
| 18 - 24 | 28.68 |
| 25 - 34 | 33.16 |
| 35 - 44 | 17.41 |
| 45 - 54 | 10.24 |
| 55 - 64 | 6.41 |
| 65+ | 4.01 |
17. File sharing and hosting is the biggest traffic driver for Bittorent.com.
59.26% of Bittorent.com traffic as of February 2023 is driven by file sharing and hosting. Other significant drivers include programming and developer software (15.43%), accommodation and hotels (7.73%), and business training (5.30%).
18. BitTorrent, Inc. has an annual revenue of between $15-$25 million as of February 2023.
The site is also ranked at number 10,252 in terms of visitors, with a 35.02% bounce rate.
uTorrent Statistics
19. uTorrent received an average of 22.8 million visitors between December 2022 and February 2023.
February had the highest number of visitors, with 38.6 million. This was followed by December 2022 with 17.2 million and January 2023 with 12.8 million.
20. The uTorrent company is located in California.
All the main operations of the company are run from San Francisco.
21. uTorrent has an annual revenue of between $10m-$15m as of February 2023.
It has between 11-50 employees.
22. Russians account for 18.20% of all uTorrent visitors as of February 2023.
Indians follow them at 6.98%, Brazilians at 5.99%, Ukrainians at 3.67%, and Americans at 3.59%.
23. Men use uTorrent more than women.
Men account for 72.02% of uTorrent.com visitors as of February 2023, compared to 27.96% of women.
24. 25 - 34 year olds visit uTorrent the most as of 2023.
33.88% of uTorrent visitors as of February 2023 were aged between 25 and 34.
They were closely followed by the 18-24 age group, with 30.6%.
| Age Group | Usage (%) |
|---|---|
| 18 - 24 | 29.09 |
| 25 - 34 | 33.88 |
| 35 - 44 | 17.27 |
| 45 - 54 | 9.80 |
| 55 - 64 | 6.18 |
| 65+ | 3.79 |
uTorrent got 89.29% of its social media traffic from YouTube as of February 2023.
This was followed by Reddit (3.92%), Facebook (3.30%), Vkontakte (1.72%), and Instagram (0.62%).
Vuze Statistics
26. About 1 million people visited the official Vuze website between December 2022 and February 2023.
12.17% of these visitors were from the United States, followed by India (6.73%), the United Kingdom (6.72%), and Brazil (4.47%).
27. The UK has the highest number of users of the Vuze Android app as of February 2023.
It is followed by the United States, Canada, and Germany.
28. Vuze is based in Redwood City.
Founded in 2003, the company has its headquarters in the state of California.
29. Vuze has an annual revenue of between $5m-$10m as of February 2023.
The company also has a workforce of between 11 and 50 employees.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/torrenting-statistics/" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/vuze-annual-revenue.png" alt="Vuze Annual Revenue" width="768" border="0" height="415.82320441989" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/vuze-annual-revenue-768x416.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/vuze-annual-revenue-300x162.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/vuze-annual-revenue-1024x554.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/vuze-annual-revenue.png 1448w" sizes="auto"></a>
30. A majority of Vuze.com visitors are men.
Men account for 69.82% of all Vuze.com visitors as of February 2023.
In addition, the 25-34 age group accounts for 30.18% of visitors in the same period.
31. Reddit is the biggest traffic driver to Vuze.com in 2023.
80.93% of social media traffic to Vuze.com comes from Reddit as of February 2023.
This is followed by YouTube (16.64%) and Facebook (0.19%).
32. Vuze is popular among users aged between 25-34.
The 25 – 34 age group formed the bulk of Vuze’s visitors as of February 2023.
They accounted for 31.29% of the total visitors during that period.
| Age Group | Usage (%) |
|---|---|
| 18 - 24 | 24.45 |
| 25 - 34 | 31.29 |
| 35 - 44 | 18.98 |
| 45 - 54 | 12.04 |
| 55 - 64 | 7.90 |
| 65+ | 5.34 |
qBittorrent Statistics
33. qBittorrent makes between $15m and $25m annually as of February 2023.
It has between 51-200 employees as of 2023.
34. qBittorrent is based in California.
The company has been run from the city of San Francisco since 2004.
35. qBittorrent received over 6 million visitors between December 2022 and February 2023.
February 2023 saw the highest number of visitors, with 2.2 million.
The average visit duration in February 2023 was about 58 seconds.
36. Most of qBittorrent’s visitors are from China.
China accounted for 10.53% of all the qBittorrent visitors in February 2023.
This was followed by the United States (9.3%), Russia (9.26%), Brazil (5.71%), and India (3.51%).
37. 25-34 year olds use qBittorrent the most as of February 2023.
This age group accounted for 35.45% of all the qBittorrent visitors.
| Age Group | Usage (%) |
|---|---|
| 18 - 24 | 30.23 |
| 25 - 34 | 35.45 |
| 35 - 44 | 17.40 |
| 45 - 54 | 9.16 |
| 55 - 64 | 5.24 |
| 65+ | 3.21 |
38. Men use qBittorrent more than women.
Only 20.31% of qBittorrent visitors as of February 2023 were women compared to 79.69% of men.
39. Reddit is the biggest qBittorrent traffic driver.
Reddit contributed 58.70% of all the traffic towards qBittorrent as of February 2023.
This was followed by YouTube (33.14%), Twitter (2.9%), Facebook (2.11%), and VKontakte (1.23%).
Deluge Statistics
40. Deluge averaged 272,800 visitors between December 2022 and February 2023
January 2023 saw the highest number of visitors, with 290,800 people checking out the website. The average visit duration was 1 minute and 53 seconds.
41. Americans visited Deluge the most as of February 2023.
17.35% of Deluge visitors as of February 2023 were from the United States.
This was followed by Brazil (11.15%), France (8.43%), the United Kingdom (6.09%), and Canada (5.03%).
42. 25-34 year olds are the dominant users of Deluge.
This age group accounted for 31.68% of all Deluge visitors as of February 2023.
| Age Group | Usage (%) |
|---|---|
| 18 - 24 | 27.67 |
| 25 - 34 | 31.68 |
| 35 - 44 | 18.20 |
| 45 - 54 | 11.23 |
| 55 - 64 | 6.97 |
| 65+ | 4.16 |
43. More men than women use Deluge as of February 2023.
73.57% of all Deluge users at the close of January 2023 were men, while the remaining 26.43% were women.
44. Reddit contributes the most Deluge traffic as of February 2023.
64.38% of all Deluge traffic from social media sites comes from Reddit, and another 35.62% comes from YouTube.
Conclusion
Torrenting is here to stay, and the fact that BitTorrent, the first-ever torrent client, is still active proves that. As you take in all these stats and try your hand at torrenting, read about the best VPNs for torrenting before diving in.
- https://www.itechgyan.com/torrenting/
- https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/dc-quadranet
- https://www.bittorrentvpn.com/virus-torrents/
- https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-site-user-who-transferred-120tb-of-pirated-content-avoids-prison-221128/
- https://money.cnn.com/2016/07/21/technology/kickass-torrent/index.html
- https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/801317/Pirate-Bay-Proxy-TorrentFreak-Torrent-Download-Jail
- https://www.downloadprivacy.com/how-to-torrent/private-trackers
- https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/music-piracy-plummeted-in-the-past-5-years-but-in-2021-it-slowly-started-growing-again/
- https://www.revenera.com/blog/software-monetization/software-piracy-stat-watch/
- https://torrentfreak.com/googles-permanent-deindexing-of-pirate-sites-spreads-across-europe-221216/
- https://www.akamai.com/resources/state-of-the-internet/soti-security-pirates-in-the-outfield
- https://f.hubspotusercontent40.net/hubfs/6347345/2021%20MUSO%20Discover%20Piracy%20by%20Industry%20Data%20Review.pdf
- https://f.hubspotusercontent40.net/hubfs/6347345/2021%20MUSO%20Discover%20Piracy%20by%20Industry%20Data%20Review.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent
- https://www.similarweb.com/website/bittorrent.com/#overview
- https://torrentfreak.com/wandavision-is-the-most-pirated-tv-show-of-2021-211225/
- https://www.similarweb.com/website/utorrent.com/#traffic
- https://www.similarweb.com/website/vuze.com/#traffic
- https://www.similarweb.com/website/qbittorrent.org/#overview
- https://www.similarweb.com/website/deluge-torrent.org/#traffic
