MUMBAI: India is set to overtake the United States as Facebook's biggest market globally within the next few weeks, as almost 250,000 Indians join the social media site every day.
According to the Global Digital Statshot for Q2 2017, released by We Are Social and Hootsuite, India's Facebook population will overtake the United States' within the next two months despite being 6m users behind.
With mobile and internet penetration continuing to soar on the subcontinent, more than 213m Indians now use Facebook. The country makes up 11% of Facebook's total monthly active users, level-pegging with the United States, and enthusiasm for the social media shows no sign of slowing down.
Despite Mark Zuckerberg having faced criticism in India over Facebook's attempt to launch limited internet access under Free Basics, the brand appears to have emerged stronger than ever in the country in 2017.
Across Asia, Facebook remains the top channel by some margin with five cities from the region in the top ten cities globally for number of active users. The platform is especially popular in emerging markets, with Bangkok, Thailand, leading the world with a staggering 30m people from the city active on the platform in the past 30 days; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jakarta, Indonesia, tied on 22m users each in second place.
Reflecting India's strong growth, New Delhi has crept up to sixth place in the global usage rankings by city with 13m residents active at least once a month. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, ranked tenth with 11m users.
According to the Global Digital Statshot for Q2 2017, released by We Are Social and Hootsuite, India's Facebook population will overtake the United States' within the next two months despite being 6m users behind.
With mobile and internet penetration continuing to soar on the subcontinent, more than 213m Indians now use Facebook. The country makes up 11% of Facebook's total monthly active users, level-pegging with the United States, and enthusiasm for the social media shows no sign of slowing down.
Despite Mark Zuckerberg having faced criticism in India over Facebook's attempt to launch limited internet access under Free Basics, the brand appears to have emerged stronger than ever in the country in 2017.
Across Asia, Facebook remains the top channel by some margin with five cities from the region in the top ten cities globally for number of active users. The platform is especially popular in emerging markets, with Bangkok, Thailand, leading the world with a staggering 30m people from the city active on the platform in the past 30 days; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jakarta, Indonesia, tied on 22m users each in second place.
Reflecting India's strong growth, New Delhi has crept up to sixth place in the global usage rankings by city with 13m residents active at least once a month. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, ranked tenth with 11m users.
Data sourced from The Next Web; additional content by WARC staff
