<p>My node currently reports:</p>
<pre><code>$ bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo
{
  &quot;chain&quot;: &quot;main&quot;,
  &quot;blocks&quot;: 873668,
  &quot;headers&quot;: 873668,
  &quot;bestblockhash&quot;: &quot;00000000000000000001b0251f80ba44e47217f661a06628f48eb71d659ce0eb&quot;,
  &quot;difficulty&quot;: 103919634711492.2,
  &quot;time&quot;: 1733586184,
  &quot;mediantime&quot;: 1733584532,
  &quot;verificationprogress&quot;: 0.9999971534840028,
  &quot;initialblockdownload&quot;: false,
  &quot;chainwork&quot;: &quot;00000000000000000000000000000000000000009ef4d8bff5438c3689882eee&quot;,
  &quot;size_on_disk&quot;: 706175424632,
  &quot;pruned&quot;: false
}
</code></pre>
<p><code>size_on_disk</code> &quot;accounts for block files and undo data, and not for chainstate or any indexes you may have enabled  on the block data&quot; (H/T Pieter Wuille in comments). This includes stale blocks and invalid blocks the node may have downloaded and validated. 706,175,424,632 bytes translate to about 657.68 GiB. Only the block data of the best chain should even be a little smaller, so 620 GiB might fit that.</p>
<p>I don’t know how bitinfocharts.com gets only 490 GiB. They must be using a different methodology. Perhaps they are providing a sum of the total serialized block data instead of the size of a node’s block files, but that’s just a guess.</p>
<p>From your source at <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Statista.com</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Bitcoin's blockchain size was close to reaching 5450 gigabytes in 2024, as the database saw exponential growth by nearly one gigabyte every few days.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have no idea how Statista arrived at &quot;5450 gigabytes&quot;, and the blockchain does not grow exponentially, it is growing <strong>linearly</strong> at no more than 4 GiB per week. It could briefly grow faster if the hashrate suddenly increases, but the difficulty adjustment would quickly correct that.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-07T16:03:47.730Z
2024-12-09T16:55:16.373Z
2024-12-09T16:55:16.373Z
Murch
<p>In several websites, I read different current size of bitcoin blockchain:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_blockchain_size" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_blockchain_size</a>
and
<a href="https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/blocks-size" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/blocks-size</a></li>
</ul>
<p>both say around 620GB.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/</a></li>
</ul>
<p>say around 490GB.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/</a></li>
</ul>
<p>say around 600GB, but below in the page it's written</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Bitcoin's blockchain size was close to reaching 5450 gigabytes in 2024</p>
</blockquote>
<p>??? what do these 5.4TB come from?</p>
<p>And why there are incongruences among different websites? Maybe bitinfocharts.com only considers blocks without indexes? Answer is no, because for example the above ychars.com and blockchain.com websites (which both gives 620GB) tell that indexes are not included, so...</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-08T01:51:39.540Z
The answer below gives good discussion of the legitimate differences, but the Statista article text is just bizarre. I wonder if it's AI-generated or something.
Glenn Willen
<bitcoin-core><blockchain><full-node><storage-footprint>
What is the actual weight of the bitcoin blockchain?
allexj
# What is the actual weight of the bitcoin blockchain?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-12-07)

In several websites, I read different current size of bitcoin blockchain:

* <https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_blockchain_size>
  and
  <https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/blocks-size>

both say around 620GB.

* <https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/>

say around 490GB.

* <https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/>

say around 600GB, but below in the page it's written

> Bitcoin's blockchain size was close to reaching 5450 gigabytes in 2024

??? what do these 5.4TB come from?

And why there are incongruences among different websites? Maybe bitinfocharts.com only considers blocks without indexes? Answer is no, because for example the above ychars.com and blockchain.com websites (which both gives 620GB) tell that indexes are not included, so...

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, blockchain, full-node, storage-footprint

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The answer below gives good discussion of the legitimate differences, but the Statista article text is just bizarre. I wonder if it's AI-generated or something.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-12-07. Score: 2

My node currently reports:

```
$ bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo
{
  "chain": "main",
  "blocks": 873668,
  "headers": 873668,
  "bestblockhash": "00000000000000000001b0251f80ba44e47217f661a06628f48eb71d659ce0eb",
  "difficulty": 103919634711492.2,
  "time": 1733586184,
  "mediantime": 1733584532,
  "verificationprogress": 0.9999971534840028,
  "initialblockdownload": false,
  "chainwork": "00000000000000000000000000000000000000009ef4d8bff5438c3689882eee",
  "size_on_disk": 706175424632,
  "pruned": false
}

```

`size_on_disk` "accounts for block files and undo data, and not for chainstate or any indexes you may have enabled on the block data" (H/T Pieter Wuille in comments). This includes stale blocks and invalid blocks the node may have downloaded and validated. 706,175,424,632 bytes translate to about 657.68 GiB. Only the block data of the best chain should even be a little smaller, so 620 GiB might fit that.

I don’t know how bitinfocharts.com gets only 490 GiB. They must be using a different methodology. Perhaps they are providing a sum of the total serialized block data instead of the size of a node’s block files, but that’s just a guess.

From your source at [Statista.com](https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/):

> Bitcoin's blockchain size was close to reaching 5450 gigabytes in 2024, as the database saw exponential growth by nearly one gigabyte every few days.

I have no idea how Statista arrived at "5450 gigabytes", and the blockchain does not grow exponentially, it is growing **linearly** at no more than 4 GiB per week. It could briefly grow faster if the hashrate suddenly increases, but the difficulty adjustment would quickly correct that.


---

