In 2020, publishing a story or a photo consumed less than **** milliampere-hour (mAh), compared to viewing or hosting a live, which had an energy consumption of about **** and a half times higher. Publishing a photo or scrolling through a feed on Instagram were the most impactful actions on the environment in terms of transforming this energy consumption into carbon (CO2) emissions, with a value of around **** grams of CO2 equivalent.
The source does not provide an exact survey date. The date provided is the publication date.
The source adds the following information: "The Instagram mobile application (version 148.0.033.121) was measured on an S7 smartphone (Android 8), and the user scenarios (publish a story, publish a picture, scrolling the news feed, hosting a live, and viewing a live video).
To assess the impacts of the mobile in the carbon projection calculations, the source has measured the energy consumption of the user scenario on a real device and in order to integrate the material impact share, the source relied on the theoretical wear rate generated by the user scenario on the battery, the first wearing part of a smartphone. 500 full charge and discharge cycles therefore cause a change of smartphone in the model."
The source specifies the testing times for each feature:
- publish a story: 22 seconds
- publish a picture: 59 seconds
- scrolling the news feed: 63 seconds
- hosting a live: 119 seconds
- viewing a live video: 119 seconds
Profit from the additional features of your individual account
Currently, you are using a shared account. To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set
statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account.
If you are an admin, please authenticate by logging in again.
Learn more about how Statista can support your business.
Greenspector. (July 9, 2020). Energy consumption of Instagram functionalities in 2020 (in milliampere hour) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved July 15, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176932/environmental-impact-instagram-feature-usage-milliampere-hour-france/
Greenspector. "Energy consumption of Instagram functionalities in 2020 (in milliampere hour)." Chart. July 9, 2020. Statista. Accessed July 15, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176932/environmental-impact-instagram-feature-usage-milliampere-hour-france/
Greenspector. (2020). Energy consumption of Instagram functionalities in 2020 (in milliampere hour). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: July 15, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176932/environmental-impact-instagram-feature-usage-milliampere-hour-france/
Greenspector. "Energy Consumption of Instagram Functionalities in 2020 (in Milliampere Hour)." Statista, Statista Inc., 9 Jul 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176932/environmental-impact-instagram-feature-usage-milliampere-hour-france/
Greenspector, Energy consumption of Instagram functionalities in 2020 (in milliampere hour) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176932/environmental-impact-instagram-feature-usage-milliampere-hour-france/ (last visited July 15, 2025)
Energy consumption of Instagram functionalities in 2020 (in milliampere hour) [Graph], Greenspector, July 9, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176932/environmental-impact-instagram-feature-usage-milliampere-hour-france/
