Nigeria and Brazil top the chart ranking social media usage by country in terms of time spent per day. In both these countries, users spend more than three hours a day on social media.

But what does the ranking look like when comparing social media penetration rates? In other words, what percentage of a country’s population is active on social media and what countries have the highest percentages? Here’s a breakdown of social media penetration by country and territory.

Start selling online now with Shopify

Start your free trial

Social media penetration by country and territory: top 10

A recent in-depth study of social media penetration rates by country and territory shows that the United Arab Emirates currently tops the list. It has a rate of 105.6%, which suggests there are more social media users than people there. Analysts say this is likely to be a result of duplicate and “fake” accounts and discrepancies between census data and the actual population.

Second on the list ranking social media penetration by country and territory is Bahrain, with 97.4%. This is followed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with rates of 94.4% and 94%, respectively. Kuwait rounds out the five countries with the highest social media penetration rates, with 93.2%. It’s worth noting that all of the top five countries are located in the Middle East.

→ Click Here to Launch Your Online Business with Shopify

South Korea is the country with the sixth-highest social media penetration rate. The study’s results show that 93.1% of the population are social media users. Despite the country’s high penetration rate, South Korea has one of the lowest social media usage when it comes to time spent. Users there spend just 69 minutes a day on social media.

South Korea is followed by Libya, whose social media penetration rate is 91.2%. The seven countries listed so far are the only ones whose rates are above 90%.

Hong Kong is in eighth place on the list ranking social media penetration by country and territory—86.2% of its population are social media users. With a download speed of over 200 Mbps (megabits per second), it also has one of the fastest internet speeds in the world

Oman and Singapore round out the ranking of social media penetration by country and territory, with penetration rates of 85.2% each.

On the other end of the spectrum lie Eritrea and Turkmenistan. At 0.2% and 2%, respectively, these two countries have the lowest social media penetration rates. 

Start selling online now with Shopify

Start your free trial

Want to learn more?