Are you considering diving into the murky waters of pirated content? Are you perhaps wondering how many others are doing it as well?

Search no more, because we’ve plundered the internet for the latest global and Australia piracy statistics.

Let’s take a look through the spyglass!

Avast Ye! The Top Stats on Online Piracy in Australia and Beyond

  • 182 billion visits to piracy websites were recorded globally in 2021.
  • Americans accounted for the most visits to pirated content sites in 2021.
  • In 2021, 50.3% of the traffic to piracy websites was generated by TV shows.
  • In 2021, pirated movie websites made up 11.2% of such illicit sites’ internet traffic.
  • 8.15% of piracy website visitors used them to access music in 2021.
  • Software downloads drove 6.7% of global online piracy traffic in 2021.
  • 30% of Aussies consumed at least some online content illegally in 2021.
  • Nearly two-thirds of online piracy perpetrators Down Under are men.
  • The age group most likely to pirate online content in AU in 2021 was 16-24-year-olds.
  • Aussies with a household income exceeding $80,000 access online content illegally the most.

General Piracy Statistics

1. 182 billion visits to piracy websites were recorded globally in 2021.

(MUSO)

This was an increase of 15.2% over 2020.

The most pirated media content type was TV shows, followed by publishing, films, music and software.

2. Americans accounted for the most visits to pirated content sites in 2021.

If you’re wondering what country has the highest rate of piracy, the answer is unequivocally the United States, with 10.6% of all such traffic or 68 site visits per internet user.

In fact, this was 88% more than the second-ranked country—the Russian Federation. India, China and Brazil also made the top five.

3. From June 2020 to May 2021, pirate websites and apps generated over USD 1.34 billion in ad revenue.

(Statista)

Estimates of the advertising revenue generated by pirate digital media sites and applications worldwide suggest that it could be as high as 1,342,610,000 US dollars over a one-year period.

The bulk of this money was made from websites, namely $1,083,830,000, while mobile piracy was far less profitable with $258,780,000. Curiously, 4% of the sites’ and 24% of the apps’ ad revenue came from major brands but also 8% and 11% respectively was generated from fraud and malware.

Types of Piracy

4. In 2021, 50.3% of the traffic to piracy websites was generated by TV shows.

There were 91.6 billion visits to websites that provided unlawful access to television content such as series, anime and live sports in 2021.

Unlicensed streaming accounted for 95.5% of these visits while L0ki: Season 1 was the most sought-after show.

5. Publishing piracy accounted for 23.7% of visits to illegal download sites in 2021.

With over 42 billion visits, fiction, non-fiction, educational materials, Manga, newspapers and magazines were the second most popular type of pirated content worldwide in 2021.

The most traffic came from the USA, Russia and Japan, the last one attributed to the popularity of Manga in that country and being responsible for about 63% of publishing piracy traffic.

6. In 2021, pirated movie websites made up 11.2% of such illicit sites’ internet traffic.

20.4 billion visits to film piracy websites were recorded in 2021.

Namely, 52.3% of users used illicit movie streaming, 23.5% illegal web download, and 22.4% public torrent sites.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage was 2021’s most pirated film.

7. 8.15% of piracy website visitors used them to access music in 2021.

Music piracy statistic data show that in 2021, 39.2% of such visits were generated by stream-ripping sites that let users download the audio from YouTube videos.

In addition, 31.5% of music piracy traffic came from illegal streaming, 24.3% were web downloads while torrents accounted for the remaining 5%.

8. Software downloads drove 6.7% of global online piracy traffic in 2021.

The worst-offending countries when it came to software piracy in 2021 were China, Russia and the USA.

73.5% of unlicensed software was simply downloaded from websites onto devices whereas 26.5% was tormented.

Australia Online Piracy Statistics

9. 30% of Aussies consumed at least some online content illegally in 2021.

(ORIMA Research)

71% of a 2021 survey’s participants had consumed music, movies, TV shows, video games or live sports in the previous three months, specifically 68% had streamed, 25% had downloaded, and 11% had shared content.

Now, 43% of this content was accessed at least in part through potentially illegal downloads in Australia, while 24% was streamed illicitly.

10. Does Australia care about piracy?

In 2021, 29% of Australians said they were very confident that they could tell whether a piece of online media was legal or not.

Overall, 14% reported that they’d grown more concerned about the lawfulness of their consumption since the pandemic, with 28% of infringers being more likely to be worried, as opposed to just 9% of non-infringers.

11. 28% of Australians pay for digital video content because they don’t want to download or stream it illegally.

(Statista) (Acclaim Mag)

In a survey of adult Aussies who had spent money on digital video in 2021, nearly three in ten said it was because they didn’t want to pirate it.

The same was true for 22% of subscribers to cable and satellite TV and 30% of those who had paid for digital music content or podcasts.

Additionally, a survey conducted by the Australian consumer group Choice reveals fewer people download TV shows in Australia due to subscribing to streaming services.

12. 11% of Ozzies came across a blocked website in 2021.

(Go To Court Lawyers) (ORIMA Research)

You might be interested to learn to cancel Netflix if your Account gets hacked.

In 2018, internet piracy laws in Australia were tightened to allow copyright holders to have websites that profit from distributing media illicitly blocked by search engine providers.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that about one in 10 Australians encountered such a site in 2021. Of these, 59% just gave up on accessing the content and 18% sought out a different but legal way to do it.

Another 13% bypassed the block, whereas 5% accessed it illegally for free through another route.

Demographics of Infringers in Australia

13. Nearly two-thirds of online piracy perpetrators Down Under are men.

A look into the demographic breakdown of infringers from 2021 indicates that 61% of them were male, up 2% over the previous year, while 39% were female, down 2% year-on-year.

14. The age group most likely to pirate online content in AU in 2021 was 16-24-year-olds.

At 22%, young people aged 16-24 were most likely to steal digital content, followed closely by 25-34-year-olds with 21%.

Further, Australians aged 35-44% represented 18% of infringers, while those over the age of 55 accounted for 15%.

The age groups least likely to help themselves to copyrighted content in 2021 were 12-15-year-olds and 45-54-year-olds, both at 12%.

15. Aussies with a household income exceeding $80,000 access online content illegally the most.

Counterintuitively, those in the highest income bracket admitted to accessing pirated downloads and streams the most in 2021, at 42%.

Behind them, 25% of Australians with a combined household income of $40,000-$80,000 also played online pirates, as did 26% of those who earned <$40,000.

16. 35% of Australians in full-time paid employment engaged in online piracy in 2021.

It would seem that being able to afford the content isn’t the issue, as over one-third of those who pirated it had a full-time job.

The next demographic most prone to these behaviours was students with 21%, followed by the paid part-time and casually employed with 16% and retirees with 10%.

Only 8% of the unemployed who were looking for work and 6% of those who weren’t resorted to illicit websites, as did just 3% of the self-employed.

Bottom Line: Is It Worth Sailing the Cyber Seas?

So, if you’re wondering “Is piracy still illegal in Australia?” the answer is “Aye, matey!” However, given how many movies and other media are pirated each year, it seems that people don’t care.

Either way, it’s up to you to decide if saving a few dollars is worth getting caught uploading or downloading copyrighted content and contributing to these Australia piracy statistics.

  • Acclaim Mag
  • Go To Court Lawyers
  • MUSO
  • ORIMA Research
  • Statista
  • Statista
  • Statista
  • Statista
  • Statista