DUBAI: Emerging markets such as the Middle East and Latin America will record the biggest increases in internet usage levels in the next four years.

Cisco, the IT networking specialist, has predicted that the volume of worldwide internet traffic will rise by more than 400% from 2009 to 2014.

By then, the amount of activity online will be of an equivalent size to 11.8 billion DVDs crossing the web each month.

Consumers will be responsible for an 87% majority of this total, with businesses on just 13%, according to Cisco.

Video – including TV, video-on-demand and user-generated content – will be among the main drivers of the overall positive trend, delivering 91% of all activity in volume terms in four years time.

The audience for this form of material is due to hit one billion netizens this year, and will continue to expand going forward.

Looking ahead, Cisco also anticipated that 3D and high-definition video will take a 42% share of this category by 2014.

At this point, internet television will also be accountable for an 8% share of the content being streamed on the net, as more viewers and broadcasters take to this medium.

VoD services will also post a 33% uptick in transfer rates from 2009 to 2014.

North America will retain its position as the region with the greatest total online consumption levels in the foreseeable future, ahead of Asia Pacific, Western Europe and Japan.

However, Latin American is expected to see its figures jump by 51% a year during the forecast period, a total that stands at 45% for the Middle East and Africa and 38% in Central Europe.

Mobile data traffic is also likely to double every year to 2014, when two-thirds of this data will take the form of video.

Uptake will rise most rapidly in the Middle East and Africa, up by 133% a year, followed by Asia Pacific on 119% and North America on 117%.

Data sourced from Cisco; additional content by Warc staff