30% of Indians back up data daily, highest globally
Times of India | 27 March 2025
Kolkata: India leads the world in data backup habits, with 30% of respondents from the country backing up their data daily—the highest percentage globally, ahead of major economies such as the US (27%) and the UK (23%). The survey highlights that external hard drives are among the most popular backup solutions in India, with 54% of respondents using them for data backup. This places India as the second highest globally in this category, just behind France at 59%.
US-based Western Digital announced the findings of a global research study conducted by Researchscape, revealing that 87% of respondents worldwide back up their data, either automatically or manually. The primary reasons for backing up personal data include the fear of losing important files (83%), freeing up space on their device (67%), and protection against cyber threats (42%). Additionally, 19% of respondents cited backing up their data simply because they were advised to do so.
"It is fantastic to see that Indian consumers recognise the importance of protecting and backing up their data," said Owais Mohammed, Sales Director for India, the Middle East, and Africa at Western Digital. "World Backup Day serves as a crucial yearly reminder for everyone to safeguard their data and to educate others in India who may still be unaware of the impact of data loss. In fact, 71% of Indian respondents have already experienced data loss due to device failure, accidental deletion, or cyberattacks," he added.
While data backup solutions appear to be gaining traction in India, there are still some gaps in data protection practices. Surprisingly, 28% of Indian respondents—the second highest globally—do not back up their personal data, placing a high level of trust in their device's reliability, according to the study.