Western Digital revealed the results of a new global survey conducted by Researchscape in recognition of World Backup Day. The research found that a significant 87% of consumers now back up their data either automatically or manually. This shift highlights growing awareness of the value of digital data—ranging from health and financial records to personal photos and videos—and the importance of protecting it from loss.
The top reason respondents gave for backing up their data was fear of losing important files, cited by 83% of participants. Other motivations included freeing up storage space on devices (67%) and safeguarding against cyber threats (42%). Some 19% admitted to doing it simply because they were told to.
Stefan Mandl, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the APJ region at Western Digital, welcomed the trend. “It’s fantastic to see more people recognising the importance of protecting their data,” he said. “World Backup Day is an important yearly reminder to everyone to backup their data and to educate the people who still aren’t aware of the impact of failing to backup. It’s also an opportunity to reinforce just how critical it is to safeguard what matters most—because all it takes is one small accident for data to be lost forever.”
Challenges remain despite improved awareness
Despite the overall rise in backup activity, many consumers still face obstacles. Among those who don’t back up their data, 36% believed it wasn’t necessary, 30% cited limited storage space, 29% said it took too much time, and 23% admitted they didn’t know how. In fact, 63% said they would back up more often if the process were automatic and effortless.
Experts continue to recommend the “3-2-1” strategy—keeping three copies of data, on two different types of storage media, with one copy stored offsite such as in the cloud. But with cloud storage limits quickly filling up, this has become harder for many users.
Hybrid strategies emerge as a cost-effective solution
The survey showed that 78% of respondents use free cloud storage, but 60% ran out of space within the past six months. More than half (56%) had to upgrade to paid plans, while 35% found cloud storage increasingly expensive. This is pushing many users to adopt a hybrid approach, combining both cloud and local storage solutions.
External hard drives are gaining popularity as a cost-effective option. Currently, 45% of respondents use external HDDs and 19% rely on network-attached storage (NAS). High-capacity devices offering up to 26TB are now available, making it easier to manage growing volumes of data without relying solely on costly cloud upgrades.
To support this trend, Western Digital has introduced 26TB WD Red Pro CMR HDDs for NAS systems and a range of 26TB-based G-DRIVE and G-RAID solutions aimed at professionals and content creators. Additionally, its WD My Passport 20th Anniversary Edition now offers up to 6TB in a compact portable format, bundled with Acronis True Image for Western Digital software to simplify scheduled backups.
These findings are based on a survey of 6,118 people conducted between 7 and 25 February 2025, with 3,346 responses from the Asia-Pacific region, including countries such as Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
