Social networking is a worldwide phenomenon that eMarketer predicts will encompass nearly 1.5 billion internet users by the end of 2012. As of December 2011, eMarketer estimates, just over 1.2 billion people around the world used social networking sites at least once per month. That represented 23.1% growth over 2010, and double-digit growth will continue throughout eMarketer's forecast period, though the rate of change will decrease as the market matures.
Social network users worldwide, 2011-2014:
- 2011: 1,202.2 million (+23.1% change)
- 2012: 1,433.5 million (+19.2%)
- 2013: 1,662.4 million (+16.0%)
- 2014: 1,854.7 million (+11.6%)
The region with the highest number of social network users is Asia-Pacific, where 615.9 million internet users will log on to social sites by the end of 2012. About half of those users will be in China, where social network users will outnumber their counterparts in the US by nearly two to one.
Social network users worldwide by region, 2011-2014:
- Asia-Pacific: 853.7 million in 2014, up from 493.5 million in 2011
- Latin America: 236.9 million in 2014, up from 164.9 million in 2011
- North America: 189.2 million in 2014, up from 163.9 million in 2011
- Eastern Europe: 192.7 million in 2014, up from 139.0 million in 2011
- Middle East & Africa: 211.6 million in 2014, up from 111.1million in 2011
- Western Europe: 170.8 million in 2014, up from 129.8 million in 2011
WORLDWIDE: 1,854.7 million in 2014, up from 1,202.2 million in 2011
China and the US are the top two countries in terms of overall number of users, but the rankings of key social networking countries around the world change when examined based on penetration rates vs. growth rates. In 2012, the US will have the greatest share of social network users as a percentage of the total population (49.9%), followed by Canada (49.3%), South Korea (46.6%), Australia (44.4%) and Russia (41.9%). As a share of internet users in 2012, however, Brazil will come out on top (87.6% of web users in the country will use social networking sites) followed closely by Indonesia at 87.5%. In developing markets like these, fewer people overall are online, but among those who are on the web, social networking is often a key driver of internet usage.
Social network users worldwide by country, 2011-2014:
- China: 414.5 million in 2014, up from 256.5 million in 2011
- US: 170.7 million in 2014, up from 147.8 million in 2011
- India: 129.3 million in 2014, up from 50.2 million in 2011
- Brazil: 90.7 million in 2014, up from 66.2 million in 2011
- Indonesia: 79.2 million in 2014, up from 34.4 million in 2011
- Russia: 69.3 million in 2014, up from 52.1 million in 2011
- Japan: 50.7 million in 2014, up from 39.5 million in 2011
- Mexico: 37.2 million in 2014, up from 23.7 million in 2011
- Germany: 34.7 million in 2014, up from 25.7 million in 2011
- UK: 29.4 million in 2014, up from 23.9 million in 2011
- South Korea: 25.9 million in 2014, up from 20.7 million in 2011
- France: 25.0 million in 2014, up from 19.9 million in 2011
- Italy: 21.3 million in 2014, up from 15.8 million in 2011
- Spain: 21.2 million in 2014, up from 15.5 million in 2011
- Canada: 18.5 million in 2014, up from 16.1 million in 2011
- Argentina: 17.9 million in 2014, up from 14.1 million in 2011
- Australia: 11.6 million in 2014, up from 8.8 million in 2011
The fastest growth in social networking this year, meanwhile, will come from India (where usage will increase by 51.7%), Indonesia (51.6%) and, lagging distantly, China (19.9%). Much of this growth is due to the ever-climbing popularity of Facebook-though notably not in China, where the site is banned. eMarketer estimates the social networking giant will pass the billion-user mark by the end of 2013.
Facebook users worldwide, 2011-2014:
- 2011: 657.1 million (+44.0% change)
- 2012: 837.3 million (+27.4%)
- 2013: 1,003.6 million (+19.9%)
- 2014: 1,143.1 million (+13.9%)
