Despite a decline in tablet sales, mobile data traffic is on the rise, according to Cisco's annual Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast.

Thanks to the shift from feature to smartphones, and growth in machine-to-machine (M2M) and wearable applications, 88 percent of data traffic last year was what Cisco called "smart" traffic, a number that is expected to rise to 97 percent by 2019.

"The ongoing adoption of more powerful mobile devices and wider deployments of emerging M2M applications, combined with broader access to faster wireless networks, will be key contributors to significant mobile traffic growth in the coming years," Doug Webster, vice president of service provider products and solutions marketing at Cisco, said in a statement.

Within four years, the amount of worldwide mobile data (with an annual run rate of 292 exabytes) will equal 23 daily images per person on Earth for a year (65 trillion images) or more than two daily video clips per person for 365 days (6 trillion videos).

That massive growth could contribute to the outpacing of fixed traffic growth. According to Cisco, the year 2019 will bring 5.2 billion mobile users, 11.5 billion mobile-ready devices, and average mobile network speeds of 4 Mbps. Plus, mobile video will represent 72 percent of global mobile data traffic.

Add to that a huge uptick in wearable devices, the global deployment of 4G technologies, and more Wi-Fi-based services, and you won't be able to escape mobile data.

"This mobile-centric environment will give service providers a new landscape of challenges and opportunities to innovatively deliver a variety of mobile services and experiences to consumers and business users as the Internet of Everything continues to take shape," Webster said.