Faster broadband speeds and a surge in mobile user numbers will drive annual global internet protocol (IP) traffic to 1.3 zettabytes (ZB) in four years' time, experts have predicted.

Cisco's Visual Networking Index predicts that there will be 3.4 billion internet users by 2016.

The rising number of devices used also means network connections will soar to 18.9 billion, according to the firm's forecast.

Cisco predicts that global IP traffic will increase by more than 330 exabytes between 2015 and 2016 alone.

That figure is almost equal to the 369 exabytes of global IP traffic which was generated during the whole of 2011.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to generate the most IP traffic by 2016, at 40.5 exabytes a month. North America could create 27.5 exabytes each month, the figures show.

Cisco said greater video demand and the spread of Wi-Fi will also have an impact on the growth in IP traffic.

The group said network providers must boost their services to meet the new surge in demand.

Suraj Shetty, Cisco's vice-president of product and solutions marketing, said: "Each of us increasingly connects to the network via multiple devices in our always-on connected lifestyles.

"Whether by video phone calls, movies on tablets, web-enabled TVs, or desktop video conferencing, the sum of our actions not only creates demand for zettabytes of bandwidth, but also dramatically changes the network requirements needed to deliver on the expectations of this 'new normal'."