Although Facebook convincingly dominates the social media space with almost 2.6 billion users worldwide, TikTok is showing the highest user base growth this year. In the last year, 313 million people started using the video and photo sharing app, seven times more than Facebook`s new users, driving the total number of TikTok users to over 1.7 billion. In 2023, TikTok’s user base is set to hit 1.9 billion people worldwide.
Studies predict that the number of active social media users is set to hit 4.9 billion, representing 61 per cent of the world’s population in 2023.
Instagram reached over 1.2 billion users in 2022, with around 32 million new users in a year. Snapchat and Twitter followers, with 548 million and 397 million users this year, respectively.
Recent years have seen a meteoritic rise in social media networks, especially since early 2020. Statista data showed that, after Covid-19 hit, almost 400 million people started using social media, driving the global user base to 3.9 billion. In 2021, the number continued rising, with another 360 million people joining the social media space.
Statista expects the total number of social media users to hit 4.59 billion this year, showing a massive 330 million increase year-over-year. In 2023, the global social media user base is expected to grow by another 300 million, with the total number of users rising to 4.89bn. By 2027, the number of social media users is set to jump to 5.8 billion worldwide.
According to Hootsuite 2022 Global Digital Overview, Western Europe has the highest social network penetration rate, with 84 per cent in 2022. Northern Europe followed closely with 84 per cent, and Northern America ranked third with a penetration rate of 82 per cent. Overall, the global average is put at 58.4 per cent.
