Which Country Uses Social Media the Most?Usage Statistics 2023-2024

If any form of media has become our staple, you would know it is social media. After all, leading social media platforms like Facebook have a whopping 2,958 million monthly active users. Every other popular social media following Facebook in worldwide rankings also has monthly active users in millions.

It is more interesting to see that social media users worldwide, on average, spend around 2.5 hours (151 minutes) every day browsing through their favorite social apps.

Let’s uncover more interesting facts and statistics about social media users worldwide.

How Many People Use Social Media Overall?

Since all popular social media have millions of monthly active users, it is easy to guess that the total number (combining active users of all social media) can hit the billion mark. And it has! There are over 4.88 billion total users worldwide as of July 2023.

Since July 2022, there have been 173 million new users on social media.

In this 12-month time frame, the growth rate of new users joining social media has been around 3.7%. This also means that in one second, over 5.5 new users (from anywhere in the world) join social media.

How Many People Use Social Media in The World? Growth Over the Years

The total number of people worldwide using social media has been growing consistently every year. Here is a growth snapshot of the previous years as per Statista’s data:

A total of 4.59 billion users in 2022

A total of 4.26 billion users in 2021

A total of 3.9 billion users in 2020

A total of 3.51 billion users in 2019

Statista speculates that the total number of people using social media in the world is expected to reach 5.17 billion in 2024, 5.42 billion in 2025, 5.64 billion in 2026, and 5.85 billion in 2027.

What Percent of People Use Social Media 2024?

Almost 60.6% of the total people worldwide use social media, as per the total number of social media users worldwide. From that statistic, it is evident that more than half of the world’s population uses social media regularly.

However, it also means that not all people around the world use social media and that there is room for more growth in the future. This brings us to our next topic about the fastest growing social media.

Fastest Growing Social Media in the World 2023-2024

Social media with the most number of active users and social media with the fastest growth are not entirely the same. That is because the metrics mean different things. Target Internet compiled Statista data and the growth rate of popular social media paints a different picture.

Here are the fastest growing social media, in terms of the total number of new users acquired from 2020 to 2022:

TikTok/Douyin has had a growth rate of 100%
Instagram has had a growth rate of 47.8%
Snapchat has had a growth rate of 45.81%
Pinterest has had a growth rate of 37.89%
Twitter (now X) has had a growth rate of 28.24%
YouTube has had a growth rate of 28.1%
WhatsApp has had a growth rate of 25%
Facebook has had a growth rate of 18.82%
Sina Weibo has had a growth rate of 15.29%

Apart from these gainers, some social media platforms have lost users in the same time period:

QQ had a loss rate of -21.48%
Facebook Messenger had a loss rate of -24%

Fastest Social Media Adoption: App Downloads

With Facebook’s long-standing success, Meta has proved that it is still dominant in the social media space. The parent company had reached another milestone, a world record. Its newly launched Threads has surpassed 100 million users.

Here are some quick highlights on Threads’ fast-paced growth:

Threads has reached the 100 million users mark the fastest in all of social media’s history
Threads garnered a 70 million user base in less than 2 days of timeframe
Threads received 30 million sign-ups within 24 hours of launch

Overall Social Media Penetration Rate

It goes without saying that social media has one of the highest penetration rates in the world, as compared to other types of media and technology. As of 2023, social media has had a worldwide penetration rate of almost 54%.

Region-wise, the highest social media penetration rate in 2023 has been in Western Europe with the numbers almost hitting the 80% mark at 79%. Africa has also had a significant social media penetration. Eastern Africa had 10% penetration and Middle Africa had 8% penetration.

Social Media Usage by Countries Worldwide

The population of a country has a major influence on its number of social media users and the comparison of the numbers on the world stage. Here are the social media stats for the highest social media users, country-wise as of 2022, as per Statista data:

China had 1,021.96 million users in 2022

India had 755.47 million users in 2022

The United States had 302.25 million users in 2022

Indonesia had 217.53 million users in 2022

Brazil had 165.45 million users in 2022

Russia had 115.05 million users in 2022

Japan had 101.98 million users in 2022

Mexico had 98.21 million users in 2022

The Philippines had 84.07 million users in 2022

Vietnam had 72.29 million users in 2022

Turkey had 67.11 million users in 2022\

United Kingdom had 61.67 million users in 2022

Germany had 60.88 million users in 2022

Thailand had 56.27 million users in 2022

France had 48.71 million users in 2022

South Korea had 46.09 million users in 2022

Italy had 43.18 million users in 2022

Nigeria had 38.47 million users in 2022

Canada had 34.47 million users in 2022

Bangladesh had 24.49 million users in 2022

According to Statista’s country-wise social media growth predictions:

China will have 1,212.38 million users by 2027

India will have 1,177.5 million users by 2027

The United States will have 327.22 million users by 2027

Indonesia will have 261.7 million users by 2027

Brazil will have 188.35 million users by 2027

Russia will have 126.37 million users by 2027

Japan will have 113.03 million users by 2027

Mexico will have 122.07 million users by 2027

The Philippines will have 92.68 million users by 2027

Vietnam will have 81.63 million users by 2027

Turkey will have 76.58 million users by 2027

The United Kingdom will have 65.23 million users by 2027

Germany will have 73.15 million users by 2027

Thailand will have 59.32 million users by 2027

France will have 56.62 million users by 2027

South Korea will have 47.61 million users by 2027

Italy will have 46.89 million users by 2027

Nigeria will have 91.55 million users by 2027

Canada will have 38.93 million users by 2027

Bangladesh will have 33.6 million users by 2027

Which Country Uses Social Media the Most?

As of 2020, the Philippines spent the most time daily on social media, averaging to 4 hours per day. Following the Philippines, internet users in Nigeria and Brazil were reported to spend almost 3 hours and 40 minutes every day.

Countries with the lowest daily social media usage time in 2020 were Japan (which spent 50 minutes or less), South Korea, and the Netherlands.

Common Reasons Why People Use Social Media

There is not a single reason to use social media. In fact, the reasons for using social media on a regular basis can be as vast as the user pool the world around. And the global social networking statistics paint a clear picture of this.

As per Statista, the most common reason for social media users to be online every day is to keep in touch with friends, family, family friends, colleagues, and close peers. Almost 47% of the respondents marked socializing as their main reason to use social media.

What’s more interesting is that almost 36.2% of users stated that the main reason for them to use social media daily is to fill their spare time. And there can be no denying to it; social media is one of the best sources of entertainment.

Also, a significant percentage of users also reported using social media daily to read news stories.

Impact of Social Media on Users Worldwide

Social media influences our lives in ways more than one. And the impact it has on one person can be completely different from another person. This is not just a hypothesis; it proves to be true in reality, at least that’s what the data says.

In a 2019 survey of internet users, out of 100% of respondents, more percentage of users found these social media impacts to increase in their daily lives:

Access to information increased for 57% of the respondents
Ease of communication increased for 57% of the respondents
Freedom of expression improved for 50% of the respondents
Negative impacts on personal privacy increased for 49% of the respondents
Distractions during the day increased for 47% of the respondents

How Many People Use Social Media in the US?

Over 308.27 million users are reported to use social media in the US in 2023. The country has seen consistent growth in total number of social media users, from:

278.35 million users in 2019
288.03 million users in 2020
295.48 million users in 2021
302.25 million users in 2022

Statista forecasts the growth to:

313.68 million users in 2024
318.58 million users in 2025
323.07 million users in 2026
327.22 million users in 2027

By 2028, the total number of social media users in the US is expected to reach 331.09 million.

Since Facebook is the most popular social media in the US, almost 54.7% of the American Facebook users are female as of August 2023.

Facebook was the social media where users in the US spent the most amount of time in 2021. The American users spent almost 33 minutes per day on Facebook. They also spent 32 minutes daily on TikTok and 31 minutes on Twitter (now X).

Social Media, Other Than Facebook, Widely Used in the US

Other than Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter (now X), and Pinterest are the most used social media in the US. Here are the rankings of these social media as per their user base in the country:

LinkedIn: 200.0 million users as of early 2023

Instagram: 143.4 million users as of early 2023

TikTok: 113.3 million users as of early 2023

Snapchat: 107.3 million users as of early 2023

Twitter (now X): 95.40 million users as of early 2023

Pinterest: 84.60 million users as of early 2023

Daily Time spent on Social Media

Internet users are spending more time on social media more than ever before. In fact, the increasing number of usage time is one of the most insightful social media usage statistics of 2023.

Here is how the usage time on social media has grown over the years, as per a Statista report:

Users spent 151 minutes daily in 2023
Users spent 147 minutes daily in 2022
Users spent 145 minutes daily in 2021
Users spent 145 minutes daily in 2020
Users spent 145 minutes daily in 2019
Users spent 142 minutes daily in 2018
Users spent 134 minutes daily in 2017
Users spent 128 minutes daily in 2016
Users spent 111 minutes daily in 2015
Users spent 104 minutes daily in 2014
Users spent 95 minutes daily in 2013
Users spent 90 minutes daily in 2012

The time users spend daily on social media has profound impact on their lives. Statista reports that a significant precent of users find social media to simplify communication, grant freedom of expression, and more access to information.

On the contrary, many users also stated that social media usage increased their distractions, hampered personal privacy, and increased polarization in politics.

Which Social Media Is the Most Popular?

Facebook is currently the most popular social media in the world with monthly active users surpassing the 2.9 billion mark.

The leading social media platform reached and surpassed 2 billion active users in 2017 which took over 13 years since its inception.

In all of social media growth history, Facebook is the first to reach and go beyond 1 billion user accounts worldwide.

Facebook is still growing consistently in terms of monthly active users. It had:

2,936 million monthly active users in the 1st quarter of 2022
2,934 million monthly active users in the 2nd quarter of 2022
2,958 million monthly active users in the 3rd quarter of 2022
2,963 million monthly active users in the 4th quarter of 2022
2989 million monthly active users in the 1st quarter of 2023
3,030 million monthly active users in the 2nd quarter of 2023

In the 2nd quarter of 2023, Facebook surpassed 3000 million monthly active users. Statista predicts that the number is only going to rise consistently with respect to the growing internet penetration worldwide.

Which Company Owns the Most number of Popular Social Media?

Meta owns the most number of popular social media platforms. It is the parent company of leading social media, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.

According to Statista, Meta has over 3.88 billion users using one or more of its leading social media platforms. Meta’s overall product users are also on a consistent rise, with the 2nd quarter of 2023 totaling to 3.88 billion users.

Most Used Device Types for Browsing Social Media

It comes as no surprise that mobile phones are the most common type of device used for browsing social media. Over 4.43 billion users use their mobile phones for social media, which accounts for almost 99% of the total social media users worldwide.

Desktop accounts for only 1.32% of the total global social media usage, which roughly translates into 50 million social media users.

You would be surprised to know which social media is the most popular in terms of the highest app downloads. And no, it’s not Facebook. Instead, it is WhatsApp.

In 2022, WhatsApp garnered around 20.7 million downloads on Google PlayStore, making it the most downloaded social media app on Android mobile phones. Snapchat followed suit with 15.3 million Google PlayStore downloads in the same year.

In 2023, WhatsApp remained the most downloaded social app in the Apple AppStore. It garnered 4.6 million downloads from iPhone users worldwide.

Social Media with Medium and Low-Level Popularity

Social media with medium to low-level popularity occupy a unique space in the digital landscape. These platforms, including Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat typically have a sizable user base but may not command the same level of attention as giants like Facebook.

Medium and low-level popularity platforms often appeal to specific demographics or interests.

Reddit, for instance, is known for its diverse range of subreddits catering to various niches, while Pinterest attracts users interested in visual inspiration and DIY projects.

Snapchat, on the other hand, is popular among younger generations for its ephemeral messaging features.

Niche Social Media

Unlike mainstream platforms, niche social media is designed to create a more focused and engaged user experience. Examples of niche social media platforms include Strava for athletes, Goodreads for book enthusiasts, and Behance for creative professionals.

Strava surpassed the 100 million users mark in 2022. By 2022, Strava had recorded over 2.5 billion activities on its platform.

Similar to mainstream social media, Goodreads has been enjoying a steady growth in user base. As of 2019, it garnered 90 million users.

Behance reported to have work shared on its platform from over 40 million users in 2022. And according to Crunchbase data, the website gets over 52,832,789 monthly visits.

The Ratio of Internet Users Compared to Social Media Users

The ratio between the total number of internet users and social media users is challenging to measure. But surprisingly, as per Statista’s 2023 data, the ratio is uneven. The total number of internet users is 5.18 billion which translates into 64.6% of the world’s total population.

On the other hand, there are over 4.8 billion social media users that account for 59.9% of the world’s population.

The data proves that out of the total number of people worldwide who use the internet, many still do not use social media. The reasons can be multifaceted, such as deactivating and deleting social media accounts, accessing the internet anonymously without logging into social media, etc.

Wrapping Up

Social media platforms, old and new, have been popular more than ever before, considering some of the core growth metrics, such as the increasing number of new users joining social media, such as the surge of 1.3 million new users in 2020, the increasing number of hours users spend on their favorite social media every day (e.g. 19.6 hours monthly in 2021 and 19.7 hours monthly in 2022), and the ever-growing penetration of the internet enabled by mobile devices.

The upcoming years are sure to spark fierce competition as dominant social media such as Facebook focus on retaining its throne while newly-launched social apps like Threads acquire new users at breakneck speeds.