Digital October Statshot: Southeast Asians among the world’s most active social media users

We Are Social, global socially-led creative agency, and Meltwater, a global leader in social and media intelligence, have released Digital 2024 October Statshot, the quarterly update in their Digital 2024 report series on social media and digital trends worldwide.

In this latest update, the October Statshot shows that global social media user identities* are now at 5.22 billion which equates to 63.8 percent of all the global population. The global total increased by 256 million over the past year – an annual increase of 5 percent. In Southeast Asia, social media user identities are slightly higher than the global average, accounting for 64.3 percent of the region’s total population. Singapore ranks fourth globally with 88.8 percent of the population using social media.

The global average daily time spent using social media is 2 hours and 19 minutes with an average of 6.8 platforms used each month. Most social media users in Southeast Asia are more active than their global counterparts. In the Philippines, the daily average time spent on social media is 3 hours and 33 minutes, while an average of 8.2 platforms are used each month.

In Indonesia, social media makes up almost half (44.3 percent) of internet users’ share of online time. The nation is also most likely globally to seek out brands on social media (63.9 percent) versus just under half (49.3 percent) globally. Additionally, 65.2 percent use social media to research brands for potential purchases.

TikTok has the highest average time per Android user of any social platform globally, clocking in at an impressive 34 hours and 15 minutes per month – equating to more than an hour per day using the platform. These average times are higher across most of the region with Vietnamese users spending almost 10 hours more than the global average each month on TikTok.

In second place globally is YouTube, with the average user spending 29 hours and 21 minutes per month on its Android app. Thailand is one of YouTube’s most active markets, spending 46 hours and 25 minutes per month on YouTube’s Android app. Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia are all above the global average, too.

While Instagram is more popular in other parts of the world, countries in the region like Vietnam and Philippines are well below the global average for monthly app sessions per user. The average monthly app sessions in Vietnam is just 83.7 and in the Philippines it is 135.8 versus 351.1 globally.

Interestingly, both of these countries are some of Facebook’s most active markets. In Vietnam, the average time spent on Facebook’s Android app per month is 24 hours and 11 minutes, and in the Philippines it is 23 hours and 26 minutes – compared to 18 hours and 44 minutes globally.

The region continues to be some of the most active users across different messaging apps as well. The Philippines is also home to some of Messenger’s most active users, spending an average of 15 hours and 31 minutes with an average of 768.9 sessions per month in its Android app. Indonesians are the second highest users of WhatsApp clocking just over 26 hours each month in the app with an average of 1,374.3 sessions per month. Singapore also has some of the most active Telegram users globally, accessing the Android app 258.6 times versus the global average of 186.6 sessions.

Other highlights from the report include:
• Global internet users have increased by 151 million (+2.8 percent) over the past 12 months, with the average user spending 6 hours and 36 minutes per day online.
• Social media users in The Philippines are the most likely globally to follow influencers (44.6 percent versus the global average of 21.6 percent).
• Singapore is one of Reddit’s top markets, spending close to 4 hours a month in the Android app with an average of 122 sessions.
• Gaming continues to be popular across the region with Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand claiming the top four spots globally for the number of internet users playing video games.
• ChatGPT’s app now ranks amongst the world’s top 20 revenue-earning non-game apps.

The Digital 2024 October Statshot report covers data points from across the entire online ecosystem, from social media to smart devices, gaming to social commerce.