What will it cost India, other countries if internet goes down for 1 hour or 1 day?

The recent Crowdstrike outage is a stark reminder of how fragile the global digital infrastructure is. Over 8.5 million devices were impacted. While it is just a fraction of the connected PCs across the world, it brought the world to stand-still. Imagine that there’s a complete internet shutdown. What happens then? The internet is essential to our modern world, connecting over 5.4 billion users globally. It links us to friends, family, information, and job opportunities. If it disappeared, the cost of such an event would be immense.

Internet outages can have severe economic impacts. A research by CloudZero highlights the financial consequences of these disruptions in various countries and businesses.

Countries most affected by internet outages

India
India, with its rapidly growing digital economy and over 1.3 billion people, is highly vulnerable to internet outages. According to the report, it will be the 6th most impacted country in the world. Around 43 per cent of the population uses the internet, translating to a significant number of users. A one-hour internet outage in India would cost approximately $59.6 million, and a full 24-hour outage could result in a loss of about $1.4 billion. This reflects the increasing reliance on the internet for various services, from online banking and e-commerce to digital education and telemedicine. India's burgeoning tech industry and widespread internet usage make any disruption costly and impactful on its economic stability.

United States

The United States would suffer the most from an internet outage. With 90.9 per cent of its population online, even a one-hour outage would cost about $459 million. A 24-hour outage could result in a loss of over $11 billion. The US economy heavily relies on the internet for e-commerce, communication, and productivity.

China
China, with 70.4 per cent of its 1.4 billion population using the internet, would also face significant losses. A one-hour outage could cost China about $412 million, and a 24-hour outage could result in a $9.9 billion loss. The large number of internet users and the booming digital economy make China highly vulnerable.

United Kingdom
In the UK, where 94.8 per cent of the population is online, a one-hour outage could cost around $136 million, and a full day without the internet could cost over $3.2 billion. Despite having a smaller economy than the US and China, the UK would still experience substantial financial impacts.

Companies most affected by internet outages

Amazon
Amazon would be severely impacted by an internet shutdown. With an annual revenue of $574.8 billion, a one-minute outage could cost the company about $1.1 million. A 24-hour outage could lead to losses of nearly $1.6 billion. Amazon's operations, from order processing to customer service, rely heavily on the internet.

Alphabet (Google)
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, would also face significant losses. With an annual revenue of $307.4 billion, a one-minute outage could cost around $585,000. A full 24-hour outage could result in losses of about $842 million. Alphabet's various services, including Google Search and YouTube, depend on continuous internet access.

Jingdong Mall
Jingdong Mall, the largest tech company in China by revenue, would also be affected. With an annual revenue of $152.9 billion, a one-minute outage could cost nearly $291,000. A 24-hour outage could lead to losses of about $419 million.

The report also suggests some methods in which cloud companies can remain well-prepared for outages like the one caused by the Crowdstrike bug. Cloud services offer flexibility and scalability for businesses, but managing these costs is crucial. Here are some tips to manage cloud spending effectively:


1. Optimise resources
Regularly check your cloud usage to identify and shut down underutilised resources, leading to cost savings.

2. Utilise automation
Automation can help monitor resource utilisation, provide cost alerts, and identify security vulnerabilities.

3. Track and allocate costs
Monitor your cloud spending to understand where the money goes and identify areas for optimisation.

4. Embrace cloud cost intelligence
Use tools like CloudZero to get detailed insights into resource usage and cost impacts, helping you optimise cloud spending.