Brazil’s IX.br hit a record 55 Tbps of aggregate peak traffic on June 25, 2026, with 35.9 Tbps at its Sao Paulo exchange alone, while six World Cup matches were being streamed (IX.br via Teletime, July 2026). In Europe, DE-CIX moved 79 exabytes across its exchanges in 2025, up 16% in a year, and AMS-IX in Amsterdam set a new peak of 15.095 Tbps in April 2026. The global footprint keeps widening too: PeeringDB now lists 1,329 exchanges and 66,269 network connections to them. We aggregated data from DE-CIX, AMS-IX, LINX, IX.br, PeeringDB, Packet Clearing House, the Internet Society, Euro-IX, TeleGeography, Cloudflare Radar and other operators listed in the methodology. For the long-haul layer that feeds these exchanges, see our submarine cable statistics.
TL;DR
- IX.br peaked at 55 Tbps on June 25, 2026, with 35.9 Tbps in Sao Paulo (IX.br via Teletime, July 2026).
- DE-CIX carried 79 exabytes in 2025, up 16% from 68 exabytes in 2024 (DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures).
- DE-CIX’s global peak was 26.99 Tbps on December 9, 2025, with 18.73 Tbps in Frankfurt (DE-CIX, January 2026).
- AMS-IX handled 35.66 exabytes in 2025, up 4%, and peaked at 15.095 Tbps on April 15, 2026 (AMS-IX, 2025 Facts and Figures and April 2026).
- LINX aggregate traffic surpassed 13 Tbps in September 2026, with LON1 near 9.8 Tbps at peak (LINX, September 2026).
- DE-CIX’s North America platform grew 46% to 11 exabytes in 2025; Chicago grew 400% (DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures).
- PeeringDB lists 1,329 exchanges, 35,541 networks and 66,269 exchange connections (PeeringDB, October 2026).
- 51 countries still have no IXP, against 162 that do (Packet Clearing House IXP directory, October 2026).
- 100 GigE IP transit fell at a 17% compound annual rate from Q2 2023 to Q2 2026 (TeleGeography, September 2026).
- International internet bandwidth reached 2,259 Tbps in 2026, up 23% (TeleGeography, September 2026).
- Global internet traffic grew 19% in 2025 (Cloudflare Radar 2025 Year in Review).
1. Annual Volume: The Exabyte Scoreboard
Annual volume is the most honest measure of an exchange, because it smooths out one-off spikes. The headline is that DE-CIX moved 79 exabytes across its exchanges in 2025, up 16% from 68 exabytes in 2024 and more than double the 38 exabytes of 2020 (DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures). Frankfurt is still the anchor at 48 exabytes, but it grew only 6%, so most of the group’s new volume came from newer markets.
Amsterdam tells the same story of a mature hub. AMS-IX processed 35.66 exabytes in 2025, up 4%, roughly four times the 9 exabytes it handled in 2015. December was its busiest month at 3.21 exabytes. Growth at the big European exchanges is now single digit, which likely says less about demand than about where traffic goes, since large content networks can also connect directly with ISPs through private interconnects. Cloudflare’s view of total demand is faster, at 19% global internet traffic growth in 2025 (Cloudflare Radar 2025 Year in Review).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DE-CIX total traffic, 2025 | 79 exabytes (+16% YoY) | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures (January 2026) |
| DE-CIX total traffic, 2024 / 2020 | 68 EB / 38 EB | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
| DE-CIX Frankfurt traffic, 2025 | 48 EB (+6% YoY; 29 EB in 2021) | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
| AMS-IX Amsterdam traffic, 2025 | 35.66 EB (+4% YoY) | AMS-IX, 2025 Facts and Figures (February 2026) |
| AMS-IX traffic, 2015 | 9 EB (about 4x lower than 2025) | AMS-IX, 2025 Facts and Figures |
| AMS-IX busiest month | December 2025, 3.21 EB | AMS-IX via Telecompaper, February 2026 |
| Global internet traffic growth, 2025 | 19% | Cloudflare Radar 2025 Year in Review |
Context note: DE-CIX’s 79 EB is the sum of all DE-CIX-operated exchanges worldwide, while the AMS-IX figure is the Amsterdam platform only, so the two are not like-for-like totals.
2. Peak Records: Sport Sets the Ceiling
Peaks are where engineering budgets are decided, and in 2025 and 2026 most of the headline records were set during live sport. DE-CIX’s busiest moment came at 20:11 CET on December 9, 2025, a UEFA Champions League matchday, when global throughput hit 26.99 Tbps and Frankfurt set an all-time high of 18.73 Tbps (DE-CIX, January 2026). LINX recorded a new global peak of 12.069 Tbps in January 2026, driven by Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and AFCON matches, with 9.293 Tbps on its LON1 hub. By September 2026 LINX said its aggregate traffic had passed 13 Tbps and LON2 had reached 1 Tb for the first time.
The pattern matters for capacity planning: a match concentrates a full evening of streaming into a few minutes, so exchanges must size ports for the kick-off spike, not the daily average. AMS-IX broke 15 Tbps on April 15, 2026, at about 21:00 CEST, after setting a 14.2 Tbps record in early 2025. Streaming platforms feel the same spikes, as our live streaming statistics show.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DE-CIX global peak | 26.99 Tbps (December 9, 2025) | DE-CIX, January 2026 |
| DE-CIX Frankfurt all-time peak | 18.73 Tbps (December 9, 2025) | DE-CIX, January 2026 |
| AMS-IX Amsterdam peak | 15.095 Tbps (April 15, 2026) | AMS-IX, April 2026 |
| AMS-IX previous record | 14.2 Tbps (early 2025) | AMS-IX via Telecompaper, February 2026 |
| LINX global peak, January 2026 | 12.069 Tbps (LON1 9.293 Tbps) | LINX via Advanced Television, January 2026 |
| LINX aggregate traffic, September 2026 | Over 13 Tbps (LON1 nearly 9.8 Tbps, LON2 1 Tb) | LINX, September 2026 |
| LINX peak, early 2021 (lockdown) | 5.93 Tbps | LINX, February 2021 |
Context note: peak figures are self-reported by each operator, measured over different averaging windows and across different sets of locations. The LINX 2021 figure is older baseline data (most recent available comparison point) and shows LINX’s peak has roughly doubled in five years (5.93 to over 13 Tbps).
3. Brazil’s IX.br: The Fastest-Growing Giant
No exchange system in this roundup has grown like Brazil’s IX.br. IX.br’s aggregate peak went from 10 Tbps in March 2020 to 55 Tbps in June 2026, a 5.5x increase in about six years (Telecompaper, March 2020; Teletime, July 2026). The 55 Tbps record came on a day with six World Cup matches on streaming platforms, three months after IX.br first crossed 50 Tbps in March 2026.
The structure explains the scale. Brazil has thousands of small regional ISPs, and IX.br gives them a free or low-cost way to reach content networks without buying expensive transit. IX.br now operates in 39 metropolitan areas with about 3,800 autonomous systems and roughly 7,000 interconnections, and its homepage announced a 40th exchange in Amapa, covering every Brazilian state. Euro-IX’s IXPDB lists IX.br Sao Paulo as the exchange with the most connected networks anywhere, at 2,413 ASNs.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IX.br aggregate peak, June 25, 2026 | 55 Tbps (Sao Paulo 35.9 Tbps) | IX.br via Teletime, July 2026 |
| IX.br aggregate peak, March 2026 | 50 Tbps (Sao Paulo 32 Tbps) | IX.br via Teletime and Telecompaper, March 2026 |
| IX.br peak, July 2023 | 31 Tbps (+25% YoY; 36 locations) | IX.br via Teletime, July 2023 |
| IX.br peak, December 6, 2021 | 20 Tbps (+43% vs December 2020) | IX.br via Telecompaper, December 2021 |
| IX.br peak, March 18, 2020 | 10 Tbps (+60% in a year) | IX.br via Telecompaper, March 2020 |
| IX.br footprint, 2026 | 39 metro areas, about 3,800 ASes, about 7,000 interconnections | IX.br via Teletime, July 2026 |
| Networks at IX.br Sao Paulo | 2,413 ASNs (most of any IXP) | Euro-IX IXPDB, October 2026 |
Context note: IX.br describes Sao Paulo as the world’s largest exchange by traffic. Its 35.9 Tbps local peak is about double DE-CIX Frankfurt’s 18.73 Tbps record, but measurement methods (in plus out, averaging interval) are not standardized across operators, so treat cross-operator rankings as indicative.
4. New Growth Markets: North America, Southeast Asia and the Gulf
The fastest growth is now outside the traditional European hubs. DE-CIX’s North America platform grew 46% to 11 exabytes in 2025, and Chicago grew 400% to more than 650 petabytes (DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures). Growth at that pace in the US reads as a structural shift toward neutral public peering, not just a bigger number. On August 20, 2026, DE-CIX said Chicago passed 1 Tbps of peak traffic for the first time, after New York and Dallas each exceeded 2 Tbps earlier in the year.
Outside North America, DE-CIX’s distributed Southeast Asia platform grew 140% to 1.2 exabytes, Istanbul grew 28% to 927 petabytes, and Dubai (UAE-IX) and Madrid each carried 2.7 exabytes. New Latin American sites are still small: Mexico City and Queretaro carried 24 petabytes and DE-CIX Sao Paulo 10 petabytes, a reminder that IX.br dominates the Brazilian market. Much of this growth tracks new cloud and AI data center capacity, covered in our data center statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DE-CIX North America, 2025 | 11 EB (+46%; 7.5 EB in 2024) | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
| DE-CIX New York / Dallas, 2025 | 5 EB (+16%) / 3.5 EB (+35%) | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
| DE-CIX Chicago, 2025 | 650+ PB (+400%) | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
| DE-CIX Chicago peak | Over 1 Tbps (August 2026) | DE-CIX, August 2026 |
| DE-CIX New York and Dallas peaks | Each over 2 Tbps (2026) | DE-CIX, August 2026 |
| DE-CIX Southeast Asia, 2025 | 1.2 EB (+140%) | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
| DE-CIX Istanbul / Dubai / Madrid, 2025 | 927 PB (+28%) / 2.7 EB / 2.7 EB | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
| DE-CIX Mexico City and Queretaro / Sao Paulo, 2025 | 24 PB / 10 PB | DE-CIX, 2025 traffic figures |
Context note: these are DE-CIX’s own exchanges only. Other operators run competing exchanges in the same cities, so a city’s total exchange traffic is higher than any single operator’s figure.
5. The Global Footprint: How Many Exchanges, and Who Is Missing
Counting exchanges sounds simple, but the three main registries disagree. PeeringDB lists 1,329 exchanges, 35,541 networks and 66,269 network connections to exchanges (PeeringDB, October 2026), while the Internet Society’s IXP Tracker counts 1,082 active IXPs with three or more members, and Euro-IX lists 1,087 IXPs and 22,886 ASNs. The gap is mostly dormant or single-member exchanges that self-register but carry little traffic.
The access gap is the bigger story. Packet Clearing House’s IXP directory shows 162 countries with an IXP and 51 without, and the Internet Society counts 30 countries and territories with large population centers that still lack one. Without a local exchange, traffic between two networks in the same country can leave the country and come back, adding latency and transit cost. The United States leads with 136 IXP locations, followed by Brazil (44), Russia (37), India (32) and Germany (32).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Exchanges / networks / facilities | 1,329 / 35,541 / 5,880 | PeeringDB, October 2026 |
| Network connections to exchanges | 66,269 | PeeringDB, October 2026 |
| Active IXPs (3+ members) | 1,082 | Internet Society Pulse IXP Tracker, October 2026 |
| IXPs / ASNs in Euro-IX database | 1,087 / 22,886 | Euro-IX, 2026 |
| Countries with / without an IXP | 162 / 51 | Packet Clearing House IXP directory, October 2026 |
| Populated countries and territories lacking an IXP | 30 | Internet Society Pulse IXP Tracker, October 2026 |
| IXP locations by country | US 136, Brazil 44, Russia 37, India 32, Germany 32 | Packet Clearing House IXP directory, October 2026 |
| ASNs at IXPs by region (Euro-IX IXPDB) | Europe and Middle East 19,093; Asia Pacific 6,125; Latin America 5,700; North America 4,266; Africa 1,948 | Euro-IX IXPDB, October 2026 |
Context note: the IXPDB regional figures count ASN-to-IXP presences, so a network present at several exchanges counts more than once (regionally unique ASNs are 4,267 in Europe and Middle East and 510 in Africa).
6. Ports, Prices and the Wider Bandwidth Market
Exchanges no longer compete only on reach; they compete against falling transit prices. TeleGeography found 100 GigE IP transit as low as $0.03 per Mbps per month in the most competitive markets, with 100 GigE prices falling at a 17% compound annual rate from Q2 2023 to Q2 2026 (TeleGeography, September 2026). Declines ranged from 11% a year in Sao Paulo to 35% in Mumbai. When transit is that cheap, exchanges have to justify themselves on latency, resilience and the ability to absorb peaks, which is why port speeds keep rising.
The upgrade cycle is visible in the operator data. AMS-IX’s total active port capacity reached 69.57 Tbps (+9%) and its 400G port count grew 65% in 2025, while LINX now offers a 60% discount on LON2 port and peering fees for members who add a second London fabric for resilience. Underneath, TeleGeography puts international internet bandwidth at 2,259 Tbps in 2026, up 23%, and its 2025 study found content providers account for almost three-quarters of used international bandwidth. The cables behind those numbers are covered in our submarine fiber bandwidth statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest 100 GigE / 10 GigE IP transit price | $0.03 / $0.07 per Mbps per month | TeleGeography, IP Transit Pricing 2026 |
| 100 GigE transit price decline | 17% CAGR (Q2 2023 to Q2 2026); 11% Sao Paulo to 35% Mumbai | TeleGeography, IP Transit Pricing 2026 |
| 400 GigE vs 100 GigE price multiple | 3.5x on average | TeleGeography, IP Transit Pricing 2026 |
| AMS-IX active port capacity, 2025 | 69.57 Tbps (+9%); 400G ports +65% | AMS-IX, 2025 Facts and Figures |
| LINX Metro Resilience discount | 60% off LON2 port and peering fees (41,000 pounds saved in July 2026) | LINX, September 2026 |
| International internet bandwidth, 2026 | 2,259 Tbps (+23%; 23% CAGR 2022 to 2026) | TeleGeography, September 2026 |
| Used international bandwidth, 2024 | Over 6.4 Pbps (32% CAGR 2020 to 2024) | TeleGeography, May 2025 |
| Content provider share of used international bandwidth | Almost three-quarters (2024) | TeleGeography, May 2025 |
Context note: TeleGeography’s September 2026 bandwidth summary also reports AI-related traffic growth of 90% on fixed networks and 80% on mobile networks in 2025; no exchange operator publishes an equivalent AI traffic split yet.
7. Other Exchanges Around the World
Beyond the big four, regional exchanges show how unevenly peering is distributed. NAPAfrica, which calls itself Africa’s most active peering community, reports more than 6 Tbps of peak traffic across Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, with 680+ ASNs from over 50 countries (NAPAfrica). That is comparable to mid-sized European exchanges, and it matters for a region where TeleGeography measures 35% annual growth in international bandwidth from 2022 to 2026, ahead of Oceania at 25%.
In Asia, JPNAP reports peak traffic above 8 Tbps with 290+ connected networks. In Europe, France-IX reports over 3 Tbps across six French cities with 600+ networks, and Netnod, the largest Nordic exchange, reports a 3.21 Tbps peak with 1,476 ports across seven sites. These operator-published headline numbers move constantly, but they show how far the 3 to 8 Tbps tier sits below the four largest exchange systems. IPv6 is part of that peering mix, as our IPv6 adoption statistics explain.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| NAPAfrica peak traffic | 6+ Tbps (3 South African locations) | NAPAfrica website, October 2026 |
| NAPAfrica connected ASNs | 680+ from 50+ countries (380+ member ASNs) | NAPAfrica website, October 2026 |
| JPNAP peak traffic / networks | 8+ Tbps / 290+ ASes | JPNAP website, October 2026 |
| France-IX peak / networks | 3+ Tbps / 600+ ASes, 6 cities | France-IX website, October 2026 |
| Netnod peak / ports | 3.21 Tbps / 1,476 ports, 7 sites | Netnod website, October 2026 |
| Africa international bandwidth growth | 35% CAGR (2022 to 2026) | TeleGeography, September 2026 |
| LINX footprint | Over 950 ASNs from 80+ countries, 11 hubs | LINX website, October 2026 |
Summary: Internet Exchange Point (IXP) Traffic by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IX.br aggregate peak | 55 Tbps (June 25, 2026) | IX.br via Teletime |
| IX.br Sao Paulo peak | 35.9 Tbps | IX.br via Teletime |
| IX.br peak growth, 2020 to 2026 | 10 Tbps to 55 Tbps | IX.br via Telecompaper and Teletime |
| DE-CIX total traffic, 2025 | 79 EB (+16%) | DE-CIX |
| DE-CIX Frankfurt traffic, 2025 | 48 EB (+6%) | DE-CIX |
| DE-CIX global / Frankfurt peak | 26.99 / 18.73 Tbps (December 9, 2025) | DE-CIX |
| AMS-IX traffic, 2025 | 35.66 EB (+4%) | AMS-IX |
| AMS-IX peak | 15.095 Tbps (April 15, 2026) | AMS-IX |
| LINX aggregate traffic | Over 13 Tbps (September 2026) | LINX |
| DE-CIX North America, 2025 | 11 EB (+46%) | DE-CIX |
| DE-CIX Chicago growth, 2025 | +400% | DE-CIX |
| DE-CIX Southeast Asia growth, 2025 | +140% | DE-CIX |
| Exchanges listed in PeeringDB | 1,329 | PeeringDB, October 2026 |
| Active IXPs (3+ members) | 1,082 | Internet Society IXP Tracker |
| Countries without an IXP | 51 | Packet Clearing House |
| Networks at IX.br Sao Paulo | 2,413 ASNs | Euro-IX IXPDB |
| 100 GigE transit price decline | 17% CAGR, 2023 to 2026 | TeleGeography |
| International internet bandwidth | 2,259 Tbps (+23%) | TeleGeography, 2026 |
| Global internet traffic growth, 2025 | 19% | Cloudflare Radar |
Methodology and Sources
Every figure above was read during research for this article and traced to the operator or research firm that produced it. Peak and volume figures are self-reported by each exchange. Where an operator’s own page could not be read (LINX’s 2025 annual report PDF, IX.br’s graph-only statistics pages), we used trade-press reports that quote the operator and name it as the source.
- DE-CIX: 2025 traffic figures press release (January 2026), Chicago joins the Terabit Club (August 2026), regional detail cross-checked with TelcoNews
- AMS-IX: 2025 Facts and Figures (February 2026), 15 Tbps peak (April 2026), Telecompaper summary
- LINX: LON2 hits 1Tb (September 2026), January 2026 peak via Advanced Television, 2021 traffic growth, LINX homepage
- IX.br: 55 Tbps record via Teletime, 50 Tbps via Teletime and Telecompaper, 31 Tbps (2023) via Teletime, 20 Tbps (2021) and 10 Tbps (2020) via Telecompaper, IX.br homepage
- Registries: PeeringDB, Internet Society Pulse IXP Tracker, Packet Clearing House IXP directory, Euro-IX and Euro-IX IXPDB
- TeleGeography: International internet bandwidth (September 2026), IP transit pricing 2026, used international bandwidth (May 2025)
- Cloudflare: Radar 2025 Year in Review
- Other exchanges: NAPAfrica, JPNAP, France-IX, Netnod
- Data watch: Exchange counts conflict (PeeringDB 1,329, Euro-IX 1,087, Internet Society 1,082 active) because of different activity thresholds; we cite all three. Peak figures are not measured the same way across operators, so the IX.br Sao Paulo vs DE-CIX Frankfurt comparison is indicative only. The DE-CIX 2025 press release describes 2025 traffic as more than double 2020; we cite the 38 EB and 79 EB values directly rather than a percentage. LINX’s 2025 annual report PDF could not be parsed, so its full-year figures were left out. Homepage figures for NAPAfrica, JPNAP, France-IX, Netnod and LINX are live operator counters read on October 3, 2026, without a stated measurement date. The IX.br 2020, 2021 and 2023 records and the LINX 2021 peak are older baselines (most recent available comparison points). A Euro-IX annual IXP report with aggregated 2025 traffic was not publicly available at the time of writing, and the RIPE NCC and BEREC interconnection reports could not be parsed and were not used.
Last updated: October 3, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when DE-CIX and AMS-IX publish their 2026 annual traffic figures in January and February 2027.