According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2024, Instagram was one of the most popular social media platforms in South Korea, with around **** percent of survey respondents in that year stating that they used it the most frequently out of all the other social media services provided in the country. The former leader was Facebook, which, together with Instagram and WhatsApp belongs to Meta. Social media in South Korea The number of Instagram users have continuously increased, while Facebook's user numbers had declined. Instagram seems to be widely used by Koreans aged under ** years old, with the share of active users dropping significantly after this age. Facebook, a social media giant, which had a largely increased usage penetration in 2020, had recently come under scrutiny for its user privacy policies. User penetration has declined since then.On-the-go media Social media networks are becoming more and more mobile. Globally, mobile social media users have been increasing, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. South Korea is not excluded from this trend - the country leads the world in terms of mobile phone penetration. With South Korea’s smartphone ownership rate at ** percent, the success of social media services in the country looks likely to be determined by how well received they are in the mobile app market.

This statistic presents a ranking of the most popular social networks in South Korea according to social media users. As of December 2015, 59.8 percent of survey respondents named Facebook as their most-used social networking service.

According to a survey conducted in the second and third quarter of 2024, ** percent of South Koreans reported to use KakaoTalk. KakaoTalk is a messaging app developed in South Korea and owned by Kakao Corporation. Kakao TalkKakaoTalk, often referred to as KaTalk, is a free mobile messenger for smartphones. Since its launch in 2010, it has grown to have around **** million monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2024. While the application is free to use, the company sells so-called emoticons in their app-shop and operates a gift system. Emoticons are stickers, most often depicting popular characters, that the users can send to their contacts in the chatrooms. Kakao’s own characters, “Kakao Friends” became fashionable enough to be sold in KakaoTalk merchandise stores all over the country. As of 2017, it was reported that the company was selling around 5,500 sticker packs in their mobile store. Social media usageSouth Korea has the one of the fastest internet worldwide as well as an internet penetration rate of over ** percent. Naturally, the majority of citizens use social media on a daily basis. While older generations prefer domestic platforms, like Naver BAND, international platforms, like Facebook or Instagram, were more popular among younger social media users. Nevertheless, YouTube is widely popular among South Koreans of all ages. In a survey among 19 to 59-year-old consumers, only *** percent of respondents stated that they have never heard of the streaming platform. According to Reuters, around ** percent of respondents aged 55 years or older used YouTube as a news source.

As of February 2022, the platform with the highest rate of users leaving social media apps in South Korea was KakaoStory, with a share of 24.33 percent. Following that, TikTok was ranked with the second-highest departure rate of social media apps users in South Korea, amounting to 23.31 percent.

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.

We asked South Korean consumers about "Social network usage by brand" and found that "YouTube" takes the top spot, while "WeChat" is at the other end of the ranking.These results are based on a representative online survey conducted in 2024 among 12,181 consumers in South Korea.

As of the third quarter of 2024, according to a survey on the use of social media for brand research, around ** percent of internet users between over 16 years old in South Korea responded that they searched for information on at least one social media platform. Among the social media channels, social networks were ranked as the most used channel selected by ** percent of the users.

Social media usage in the Asia-Pacific region varies significantly across countries, with the Philippines leading in daily time spent at ***** hours and ** minutes in the third quarter of 2024. This was a stark contrast to Japan's ** minutes per day. Penetration rates and user bases Among Asia Pacific countries, South Korea boasts the highest social media penetration at **** percent, followed closely by Hong Kong at **** percent. However, populous countries like Indonesia, China, and India show lower penetration rates, indicating significant growth potential. Despite this, China leads in absolute numbers with more than *********** active social media users, while India and Indonesia rank second and third in this category. These figures suggest that despite lower penetration rates in some countries, the sheer population size translates to massive user numbers. Platform preferences Facebook remains the dominant social media platform across Asia; however, competitors have gained ground in some markets. For example, Chinese network WeChat is the most popular platform in China, offering integrated services beyond social media. In Thailand and Laos, X (formerly Twitter) accounts for more than ** percent of social media traffic.

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 December 2021, WeChat and Weixin had about **** billion monthly active users, ranking first among the most popular Asia-based mobile messengers. This was followed by runner-up LINE with *** million monthly active users in the key markets Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. WeChat (China), LINE (Japan), and KakaoTalk (South Korea) are market leaders in their country of origin.Mobile messengers in Asia PacificBesides text and voice messaging, WeChat, LINE, Hike and KakaoTalk also provide various other features such as photo and video sharing, digital payment and mobile gaming through mini apps that are integrated in the app itself while offering accounts for both private and business users. Combining all these features in one application is one of the reasons why these messenger apps have been witnessing increasing user numbers in the past years. Further factors for the popularity of messenger apps is the importance of social networks in countries such as China and the high internet usage and internet connectivity in places like South Korea.Global players User demand for special features, such as photo-sharing, video-sharing, voice messages or emoticons, as well as zero or low costs of messaging via an internet connection, have created a need for mobile messenger apps on the market. Globally, WhatsApp has been the market leader with 1.6 billion monthly users around the world as of October 2019, followed by Facebook Messenger and WeChat.

According to a survey, South Koreans would have a hard time giving up the usage of mobile phones, ranking an average of 4.27 on a scale from one (could be given up easily) to five (could not be given up at all.)

Key YouTube Statistics (Editor’s Choice) YouTube recorded 70 billion monthly active users in March 2023, which includes 55.10% of worldwide active social media users. There have been more than 14 million daily active users currently on YouTube, in the United States of America this platform is accessed by 62% of users. YouTube is touted as the second largest search engine and the second most visited website after Google. Revenue earned by YouTube in the first two quarters of 2023 is around $14.358 billion. In 2023, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music have recorded 80 million subscribers collectively worldwide. YouTube consumers view more than a billion hours of video per day. YouTube has more than 38 million active channels. In the fourth quarter of 2021, YouTube ad revenue has been $8.6 billion. Around 3 million paid subscribers to access YouTube TV. YouTube Premium has around 1 billion paid users. In 2023, YouTube was banned in countries such as China excluding Macau and Hong Kong, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and South Sudan. With 166 million downloads, the YouTube app has become the second most downloaded entertainment application across the world after Netflix. With 91 million downloads, YouTube Kids has become the sixth most downloaded entertainment app in the world. Nearly 90% of digital consumers access YouTube in the US, making it the most popular social network for watching video content. Over 70% of YouTube viewership takes place on its mobile application. More than 70% of YouTube video content watched by people is suggested by its algorithm. The average duration of a video on YouTube is 12 minutes. An average YouTube user spends 20 minutes and 23 seconds on the platform daily. Around 28% of YouTube videos that are published by popular channels are in the English language. 77% of YouTube users watch comedy content on the platform. With 247 million subscribers, T-Series has become the most subscribed channel on YouTube. Around 50 million users log on to YouTube every day. YouTube's biggest concurrent views record has been at 2.3 billion from when SpaceX has gone live on the platform to unveil Falcon Heavy Rocket. The majority of YouTube users are in the age group of 15 to 35 years in the US. The male-female ratio of YouTube users is 11:9. Apple INC. has been touted as the biggest advertiser on YouTube in 2020 spending $237.15 million. YouTube produced total revenue of $19.7 billion in 2020. As of 2021, the majority of YouTube users (467 million) are from India. It is the most popular platform in the United States with 74 percent of adult users. YouTube contributes to nearly 25% of mobile traffic worldwide. Daily live streaming on YouTube has increased by 45% in total in 2020. In India, around 225 million people are active on the platform each hour as per the 2021 statistics. YouTube Usage and Viewership Statistics #1. YouTube accounts for more than 2 billion monthly active users Around 2.7 billion users log on to YouTube each month. The number of monthly active users of YouTube is expected to grow even further. #2. Around 14.3 billion people visit the platform every month The number of YouTube visitors is far higher compared to Facebook, Amazon, and Instagram. #3. YouTube is accessible across 100 countries in 80 languages. The platform is widely available across different communities and nations. #4. 53.9% of YouTube users are men and 46.1% of women use the platform As of 2023 statistics, 53.9% of men use the platform and 46.1% of women over 18 years are on YouTube. The share in the number of males and females is 1.38 billion and 1.18 billion respectively. Age Group Male Female 18 to 24 8.5% 6% 25 to 34 11.6% 8.6% 35 to 44 9% 7.5% 45 to 54 6.2% 5.7% 55 to 64 4.4% 4.5% Above 65 4.3% 5.4% #5. 99% of YouTube users are active on other social media networks as well. Fewer than 1% of YouTube users are solely dependent on the platform. #6. Users spend around 20 minutes and 23 seconds per day on YouTube on average It is quite a generous amount of time spent on any social network platform. #7. YouTube is the second most visited site worldwide With more than 14 billion visits per month, YouTube has become the second most visited site in the world. However, its parent company Google is the most visited site across the globe. As per the statistics, YouTube is the third most popular searched word on Google. #8. 694000 hours of video content are streamed on YouTube per minute YouTube has outweighed Netflix as well in terms of streaming video content. #9. Over 81% of total internet users have accessed YouTube #10. Nearly 450 million hours of video content are uploaded on YouTube each hour More than 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube per day. #11. India has the maximum numb

According to data provided by NapoleonCat, South Korean women aged between 25 and 34 years old were most likely to use Instagram as of April 2025. They accounted for around **** percent of users, so roughly *** million users.Instagram users and followingAs of April 2025, around ***** million Instagram users were South Korean. Instagram’s popularity is growing, while the popularity of Facebook is declining, especially among younger users. The most popular South Korean Instagram profiles are those of celebrities. The most followed ones were all of K-Pop artists. Social media usageSocial media is increasingly important for South Koreans and almost every South Korean aged between 18 and 34 years old is using social media. A different survey found that the most people followed accounts of people they know, even before celebrities. Accordingly, most respondents were using social media for its original purpose: socializing.

The global open API market is projected to amass a revenue of around US$ 19,591.4 million by 2033, up from US$ 2,794.5 million

Report Attributes	Details
Open API Market Value (2023)	US$ 2,794.5 million
Open API Market Anticipated Forecast Value (2033)	US$ 19,591.4 million
Open API Market Projected Growth Rate (2023 to 2033)	21.5%

Report Scope

Report Attributes	Details
Growth Rate	CAGR of 21.5% from 2023 to 2033
Open API Market Value (2023)	US$ 2,794.5 million
Open API Market Anticipated Forecast Value (2033)	US$ 19,591.4 million
Base Year for Estimation	2022
Historical Data	2018 to 2022
Forecast Period	2023 to 2033
Quantitative Units	Revenue in US$ million and CAGR from 2023 to 2033
Report Coverage	Revenue Forecast, Volume Forecast, Company Ranking, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, Trends, and Pricing Analysis
Segments Covered	Application Region
Regions Covered	North America Latin America Western Europe Eastern Europe South Asia & Pacific East Asia Middle East & Africa
Key Countries Profiled	United States Canada Brazil Mexico Germany United Kingdom France Spain Italy Poland Russia Czech Republic Romania India Bangladesh Australia New Zealand China Japan South Korea GCC Countries South Africa Israel
Key Companies Profiled	Open Banking Working Group (OBWG) UK CAPS Open Bank Project Open API initiative IXARIS Open Payment Ecosystem Open Financial Exchange (OFX) Financial Transaction Services (FinTS) Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN) W3C Web Payments Interest Group. Wipro Limited
Customization & Pricing	Available Upon Request

This statistic presents the results of a survey about the ranking of digital content engagement in South Korea in 2019, sorted by category. According to the survey, music was the most accessed content, with a ranking of *** among users.

The reach by social network in the 'X' (formerly Twitter) segment of the digital advertising market in South Korea was forecast to continuously decrease between 2023 and 2028 by in total 0.3 million users. After the ninth consecutive decreasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach 6.05 million users and therefore a new minimum in 2028. Find more information concerning Saudi Arabia and South Africa.The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in early 2024, around ** percent of respondents stated that MBC News was their most trusted news brand. MBC News overtook YTN, South Korea's first 24-hour news channel, as the most trusted news source in 2023. Low trust in news According to the annual survey by Reuters Institute for Study Journalism, South Korea's trust in the news has increased slightly since last year. With a trust rate ranging from ** to ** percent depending on the age group, South Koreans are rather skeptical compared to respondents in other countries. Trust in broadcast news tended to be higher compared to newspapers. Online news are increasingly popular In 2021, around ** percent of the South Korean population were reading the news. The majority of South Koreans stated that they accessed their news online, including on social media. However, only a minority of surveyed South Koreans were paying for digital news in 2025.

As of February 2025, 5.56 billion individuals worldwide were internet users, which amounted to 67.9 percent of the global population. Of this total, 5.24 billion, or 63.9 percent of the world's population, were social media users. Global internet usage Connecting billions of people worldwide, the internet is a core pillar of the modern information society. Northern Europe ranked first among worldwide regions by the share of the population using the internet in 20254. In The Netherlands, Norway and Saudi Arabia, 99 percent of the population used the internet as of February 2025. North Korea was at the opposite end of the spectrum, with virtually no internet usage penetration among the general population, ranking last worldwide. Eastern Asia was home to the largest number of online users worldwide – over 1.34 billion at the latest count. Southern Asia ranked second, with around 1.2 billion internet users. China, India, and the United States rank ahead of other countries worldwide by the number of internet users. Worldwide internet user demographics As of 2024, the share of female internet users worldwide was 65 percent, five percent less than that of men. Gender disparity in internet usage was bigger in African countries, with around a ten percent difference. Worldwide regions, like the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe, showed a smaller usage gap between these two genders. As of 2024, global internet usage was higher among individuals between 15 and 24 years old across all regions, with young people in Europe representing the most significant usage penetration, 98 percent. In comparison, the worldwide average for the age group 15–24 years was 79 percent. The income level of the countries was also an essential factor for internet access, as 93 percent of the population of the countries with high income reportedly used the internet, as opposed to only 27 percent of the low-income markets.

In November 2024, the website with the highest reach on PCs in South Korea was naver.com, as around 77.4 percent of computer users in the country accessed that site. Naver.com is the search portal website of South Korean internet giant Naver Corporation, offering multiple services from social media, shopping, and blogs to search engines and more. Naver as a search engine Naver generated most of its revenue in 2022 from its function as an internet search platform. Naver’s biggest competitor in the online search market was Google. The domain google.com had a website reach on PCs around the mid-40 percent mark, but overall Google as a search engine effortlessly claimed the highest market share on the search engine market in South Korea. Still, looking at the number of monthly users, Naver was the most used search engine among consumers.  Internet usage in South Korea In general, the South Korean population is very well connected to the internet, as over 97 percent had access to it as of 2021. Accordingly, internet usage in the country has thoroughly expanded into various aspects of the average person’s day-to-day life. Additionally, the government also continues to push further development of utilizing the internet.

As of March 2025, Jennie of Blackpink was the most followed South Korean celebrity on Instagram with approximately 86.3 million followers. The most followed individual male celebrity was V of boy group BTS. The group account of Blackpink, BTS and both groups' individual member accounts made up all the leading Instagram accounts, highlighting the overall popularity of the two Kpop idol groups. More than just Instagram followers The popularity of Kpop stars were not limited to just Instagram posts. For example, EXO was one of SM Entertainment company’s leading idol groups with a prominent presence on SM Entertainment’s Youtube channel. The meteoric rise and popularity of Bangtan boys (BTS) also translated into strong album sales and revenue growth for Big Hit Entertainment, which was the company that managed BTS. Kpop fans did much more than following their favorite stars’ Instagram accounts. The global appeal of Kpop Kpop grew from a niche genre of music to a market with worldwide appeal and popularity. There were various reasons behind Kpop’s power to draw in fans; the overall package that was presented by Kpop artists offered something both new and impressive to behold for consumers. The various mediums of media through which Korean celebrities could be accessed also provided a strong connection between stars and their fans.