In the third quarter of 2024, WhatsApp was the most popular social media platform in Nigeria. It was mentioned by over 95 percent of internet users in the country 16 years and older. In absolute terms, the number of people using WhatsApp was projected at nearly 15 million in 2026. Social media platforms with most users The count of Facebook users in Nigeria significantly exceeded that of WhatsApp in 2022. In that year, Facebook users were expected to add up to slightly over 36 million, representing a user penetration rate of around 16.7 percent. Moreover, considering the count of users, around 26 million people were potentially reachable by online advertisers on Facebook. YouTube was another popular social network used by residents in Nigeria. Individuals who used the platform were forecast at nearly 6.7 million in 2022. Increasing overall social media usage In recent years, the number of social media users in Nigeria has been on the rise. As of 2022, social media users in the country reached roughly 34 million in total, expanding from the 18 million individuals registered in 2017. On the basis that this increasing trend keeps stable, it is expected that, by 2025, over 90 million people will use at least one social media platform in Nigeria. Overall, the most followed network accounts are those of friends, family, and people known by the social media user

This statistic provides information on the social network user penetration in Nigeria from 2017 to 2026. In 2021, 20.34 percent of internet users in Nigeria accessed social media. It is estimated that in 2026, social network users in the country will be **** percent.

This statistic shows the number of social network users in Nigeria from 2017 to 2026. In 2021, there were approximately ** million social network users in Nigeria, and this figure is projected to grow to *** million users in 2026.

As of early 2025, Saudi Arabia had the highest social media penetration rate globally out of selected countries and territories, with a whopping 102 percent. UAE and South Korea followed, with 96 percent and 94 percent of active usage reach, respectively. Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria had some of the lowest social network penetration rates in the world, with less than 26 percent of the population accessing social media in each country. How many people use social media? Although the top three countries with the highest social media penetration rates globally were in Eastern and Southwestern Asia in 2023, the region with the greatest social media reach was Northern Europe with 83.6 percent, followed by Western Europe with 83.3 percent and Southern Europe with 76.7 percent. In 2022, more than 4.59 billion people reported using social media, and this number is projected to reach almost six billion by 2027. Facebook: the most popular social network Meta’s Facebook, the social media giant and the first platform to reach this kind of scale, was the leading social network as of October 2023 with more than three billion global monthly active users (MAU). Additionally, Meta owns four of the biggest social media platforms, all with more than one billion MAU each: Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. As of January 2023, India was home to Facebook’s largest audience with more than 300 million MAU, followed by the United States with 175 million MAU.

As of June 2025, Facebook was the social media platform that was most often accessed on mobile devices in Nigeria, accounting for a market share of roughly ** percent. This was followed by Youtube and Twitter with around ** percent and ** percent, respectively. Overall, the share of Facebook in the total web traffic in Nigeria reached over ** percent in 2021.

As of January 2023, Nigeria had **** million active social media users. WhatsApp is the most popular platform used in the country, with close to ** percent of users. Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram followed as the most used social media platforms in Nigeria.

As of the third quarter of 2023, over ** percent of internet users in Nigeria used social media primarily to keep in touch with friends and family. Moreover, for around ** percent and ** percent of internet users in the country, social media platforms were accessed to make new contacts and read news stories, respectively. Filling up spare time was cited by roughly ** percent of the respondents.

** percent of Nigerian respondents answer our survey on "Most used social media platforms by type" with "Instant messengers (e.g., WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat)". The survey was conducted in 2023, among ***** consumers.Access millions of exclusive survey results with Statista Consumer Insights.

During the first quarter of 2023, internet users in Brazil spent an average of three hours and 49 minutes per day on social media. Nigeria and the Philippines also reported high usage levels. By comparison, internet users in Japan spent less than 50 minutes per day on social media. Low levels of daily usage were also recorded in South Korea and the Belgium.

As of January 2023 social network Facebook was ranked first worldwide in terms of active users with almost three billion MAU. Other popular social media include mobile messaging platforms YouTube and WhatsApp, as well as social content sharing networks such as Instagram and social video platform TikTok.

Most social networks are accessible through multiple platforms, but many popular social media started out as mobile apps, demonstrating the growing trend of mobile first development. Examples include Instagram, which initially was launched as an iOS photo editing and discovery app as well as mobile social messenger, as well as TikTok, which recorded 23.7 million downloads worldwide via the Google Play Store alone in June 2023.

Social networking does not only enable users to connect with other people but also with brands and celebrities. Social media has also become a growing source of news for internet users in many countries.

WhatsApp was the favorite social media platform of internet users in Nigeria aged 16-64 years, according to a survey conducted in the third quarter of 2023. The messaging app was cited by nearly 40 percent of the respondents as their favorite social media platform. Facebook and Instagram followed with 17.4 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Moreover, just over 12 percent of the surveyed population cited TikTok as their most preferred platform.

The number of snapchat users in Nigeria was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 4.4 million users (+26.81 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the snapchat user base is estimated to reach 20.79 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of snapchat users of was continuously increasing over the past years.The user numbers, depicted here regarding the platform Snapchat, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period and count multiple accounts by persons only once.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

As of January 2025, around **** percent of social media users in Nigeria aged between 18 and 24 years were men. Moreover, the share for women in the same age group corresponded to nearly ** percent.

There were more male social media users in Nigeria than female users as of the third quarter of 2023. Men using social media represented over ** percent of the total users. In the beginning of the same year, nearly ** million individuals were connected to a social media platform in the country. WhatsApp was the most popular social media in the country in the year prior, 2022.

The number of LinkedIn users in Nigeria was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 2.4 million users (+25.89 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the LinkedIn user base is estimated to reach 11.64 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of LinkedIn users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here with regards to the platform LinkedIn, have been estimated by taking into account company filings or press material, secondary research, app downloads and traffic data. They refer to the average monthly active users over the period and count multiple accounts by persons only once.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of LinkedIn users in countries like Ghana and Senegal.

During a 2025 survey, ** percent of respondents from Nigeria stated that they used social media as a source of news. In comparison, just ** percent of Japanese respondents said the same. Large portions of social media users around the world admit that they do not trust social platforms either as media sources or as a way to get news, and yet they continue to access such networks on a daily basis. Social media: trust and consumption Despite the majority of adults surveyed in each country reporting that they used social networks to keep up to date with news and current affairs, a 2018 study showed that social media is the least trusted news source in the world. Less than ** percent of adults in Europe considered social networks to be trustworthy in this respect, yet more than ** percent of adults in Portugal, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Croatia said that they got their news on social media. What is clear is that we live in an era where social media is such an enormous part of daily life that consumers will still use it in spite of their doubts or reservations. Concerns about fake news and propaganda on social media have not stopped billions of users accessing their favorite networks on a daily basis. Most Millennials in the United States use social media for news every day, and younger consumers in European countries are much more likely to use social networks for national political news than their older peers. Like it or not, reading news on social is fast becoming the norm for younger generations, and this form of news consumption will likely increase further regardless of whether consumers fully trust their chosen network or not.

As of June 2025, YouTube was the social media platform that was most often accessed on desktop computers in Nigeria, with a share of roughly **** percent. It was followed by Facebook and Twitter with around ** percent and **** percent, respectively.

"Commented on posts" and "Followed people" are the top two answers among Nigerian consumers in our survey on the subject of "Most common social media activities".The survey was conducted online among ***** respondents in Nigeria, in 2023. Statista Consumer Insights offer you all results of our exclusive Statista surveys, based on more than ********* interviews.

As of February 2025, nearly ** percent of the internet users in Morocco used WhatsApp each month. Facebook and Facebook Messenger ranked as the second and third most popular social media platforms in the country, with a share of **** percent and **** percent, respectively. Social media users keep increasing With the rising internet penetration rate and mobile internet adoption, the use of social media has increased in Morocco in recent years. In 2025, social media users in the country amounted to around **** million. This marked a steady growth over the previous years, rising from around ** million in 2017 to ** million in 2022, before experiencing a decline. As the most popular social media platform, Facebook accounted for about 25.89 million users in 2025, with the number being forecast to increase to more than ** million by 2028. In comparison, approximately *** million people actively used Instagram in 2025, and it is projected to reach **** million in 2026. Sending messages is the primary online activity Among the different types of social media, Moroccans regularly used instant messenger platforms, such as WhatsApp, and social networks like Facebook as of 2023. In contrast, consumer review networks and discussion forums were the least used platforms. In the same year, the most popular activities among Moroccan social media users were sending private messages, commenting on posts, liking other users’ posts, and following people. As of 2023, users in Morocco spent an average of * hours and * hours and ** minutes per day on social media. The average time was lower than in other African countries such as Nigeria (* hours and ** minutes) and South Africa (* hours and ** minutes).

According to a survey conducted between January and February 2023, ** percent of the respondents in Nigeria consumed news via Facebook. Compared to the other social media platforms considered, this was the highest share, followed by WhatsApp. The latter registered a slightly lower share of ** percent. Social media is a leading source of news in Nigeria.

During a survey among internet users worldwide during the third quarter of 2024, an average of **** percent of global respondents said they used social media platforms to conduct research on brands. The top three markets with the highest share of internet users using social media for brand research were all African: Nigeria, Morocco, and Ghana all recorded shares above ** percent.