Global Social Media Statistics — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights

Detailed analysis by the team at Kepios shows that there are 4.76 billion social media users around the world in January 2023, equating to 59.4 percent of the total global population.

Social media user numbers have continued to grow over the past 12 months too, with 137 million new users joining social media since this time last year.

That equates to annualised growth of 3 percent, at an average rate of more than 4 new users every single second.

The latest figures indicate that well over 9 in 10 internet users now use social media each month (learn more about people’s broader internet behaviours on our Global Digital Overview page).

However, note that figures for social media users may not represent unique individuals, and due to issues like duplicate accounts, social media user figures may exceed the figures that we publish for internet users – or even for total population.

On the other hand, it’s also worth noting that comparing social media users with figures for total population may under-represent the full extent of social media use, because most social media companies restrict use of their platforms to people aged 13 and above.

For context, the latest data suggest that the number of social media users around the world now equates to almost 78 percent of the eligible global population.

Data from GWI reveals that the typical social media user actively uses or visits an average of 7.2 different social platforms each month, and spends an average of more than 2½ hours per day using social media. 

Assuming that people sleep for between 7 and 8 hours per day, these latest figures suggest that people spend roughly 15 percent of their waking lives using social media.

Added together, the world spends almost 12 billion hours using social platforms each day, which is the equivalent of almost 1.4 million years of human existence.