In March 2024, approximately ** percent of online users aged between 15 and 24 years in the United Kingdom engaged with social video app TikTok. Users aged between 25 and 34 years were the second largest age demographic on the platform, while only one quarter of users aged 75 and older reported engaging with TikTok. Overall, **** of the UK digital population engaged with the popular Chinese-developed app.

As of the third quarter of 2020, a quarter of UK internet users aged 15 to 25 years were using short-form video sharing app TikTok. By comparison, just nine percent of those aged 26 to 35 years were using the app.

In 2021, almost ** percent of TikTok influencers' audiences in the United Kingdom were women aged between 18 and 24 years. The second largest TikTok demographic was women aged 13 to 17. In comparison, male users on the platform represented **** of TikTok's user base, with around ** percent of men engaging with the popular social video app aged between 25 and 34 years.

As of March 2024, TikTok commanded almost ** hours of engagement per month from UK users aged between 15 and 24 years. In comparison, the average time spent across all age demographics in the UK was of approximately ** hours per month. Users aged between 25 and 34 years spent approximately ** hours monthly engaging with the popular social video app TikTok.

As of October 2025, **** percent of TikTok's global audience were women between the ages of 18 and 24 years, while male users of the same age formed **** percent of the platform's audience. The online audience of the popular social video platform was further composed of **** percent of female users aged between 25 and 34 years and **** percent of male users in the same age group.

Over the five years through 2025-26, industry revenue is forecast to expand at a compound annual rate of 20.3% to reach £12.5 billion. Social media platforms are integral to people's lives, offering ways to communicate, create and view content and share information. According to Ofcom, approximately 89% of UK internet users in 2023 used social media apps or sites. Teenagers and young adults are the biggest users. Advertising is the primary revenue source for social media platforms, although subscription-based services are gaining momentum as platforms seek to diversify their incomes. TikTok is the success story of the past five years, becoming the most downloaded app between 2020 and 2022, according to Apptopia. The short-form video platform has over 30 million monthly users in the UK in 2025. After Musk's takeover, X, formerly known as Twitter, adjusted its content moderation and allowed previously banned accounts to return. As a result, over 600 advertisers pulled their ads from the site because of fears their brand may be associated with malcontent. In response to falling ad revenue, X has introduced a subscription-based service which enables users to verify themselves and boosts the number of people who view their tweets. Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram have responded by introducing a similar service. In 2025, more social media platforms are using AI to boost user engagement. This improves click-through rates and drives higher advertising revenue. Industry revenue is expected to grow by 6.3% in 2025-26. Over the five years through 2030-31, social media platforms' revenue is projected to climb at an estimated 9.2% to reach £19.4 billion. Regulations relating to how data is collected, stored, and shared will force advertisers and platforms to rethink how they can target their desired demographics. The tightening of regulations will raise industry compliance costs, weighing on profit margin. Older age groups present a new revenue opportunity for social media platforms if they can bridge the gap between passive TV consumption and interactive digital engagement. Augmented Reality (AR) technology will move beyond filters to become standard for immersive product trials, interactive ads, and virtual meetups

As of February 2025, approximately ** percent of YouTube users in the United Kingdom (UK) were women. Male UK users on the popular social video platform held ** percent share of the audience on the platform. Overall, TikTok use interested almost the *********** of female and male internet users in the United Kingdom.

Back in 2018, a teenager in Ohio posted a short dance clip on TikTok. Within hours, her video was stitched, duetted, and remixed by thousands worldwide. A year later, a fashion influencer in LA racked up millions of views from a single Instagram Reel on sustainable style tips. What began...

In December 2019, over a quarter of UK smartphone users aged between 18 and 24 were using TikTok. The video-sharing social media app has become hugely popular with "Generation Z" since its launch in September 2017. TikTok is also slightly more popular with the female demographic than it is with male smartphone users. In contrast, only 9.3 percent of 25 to 34 year-olds used the app, and overall the share of users was much lower among older age groups.

TikTok and Generation Z

Despite being used mainly by the younger generation, TikTok has been doing well in the UK. Its market penetration has been on the rise since 2017, reaching 8.7 percent of smartphone users as of December 2019. The app’s biggest increase in uptake was from 2017 to 2018, where user penetration leaped from 2.2 to 5.6 percent. TikTok is also highly popular among children 4-15 years old and was the second most used app daily in February 2020 after YouTube within that demographic. In a comparison between the top social media platforms, most children spent an average of 69 minutes daily on TikTok compared to 48 minutes and 39 minutes on Instagram and Snapchat respectively.

Facebook and YouTube still lead

When it comes to Millennials (those aged 26 to 35 years) however, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are regarded as the most important social media apps after messaging tool Whatsapp. As of the third quarter of 2019, YouTube was cited by 19.2 percent of respondents as the app they could least do without, followed by Facebook and Instagram. This was also reflected in the results of a UK-wide survey in 2020, where Facebook topped the list of social networks used regularly. This was followed by YouTube and Instagram, while TikTok was used regularly by a mere 10 percent of those surveyed.

In 2008, the average human attention span was 12 seconds. Fast forward to 2025, and many studies suggest it's now hovering around 8 seconds, shorter than that of a goldfish. It’s no coincidence that during this same period, social media platforms surged to dominate how we consume content. Whether you're...

Based on forecasts released in May 2021, the number of TikTok users in the United Kingdom is expected to reach almost ** million users in 2025. The app's growth is expected to keep increasing, reaching **** million users in 2024. TikTok penetration in the UK As of December 2019, 8.7 percent of the UK's smartphone population was using TikTok, an increase of *** percentage points compared to September 2017 when the video-sharing social media app first launched. At just over a quarter, smartphone users aged between ********* years old made up the largest share of TikTok users in December 2019. Additionally, TikTok was slightly more popular within the female demographic compared to male smartphone users, with respective shares of ** and *** percent.   Gender differences in social media usage in the UK According to a survey conducted in the third quarter of 2020, it was found that Facebook was the most used social media among both men and women . WhatsApp ranked second among men and women, followed by YouTube.

63% female, 37% male; top age groups 25–34 and 35–44; audience locations: USA, Canada, UK, Germany, UAE; social reach of 200K followers across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest.

Social media usage in the United Kingdom reveals a diverse landscape across age groups, with the ***** bracket leading at ** percent of users in 2024. Surprisingly, the ***** age group accounted for ** percent, challenging the notion that social networks are primarily for younger users. This distribution highlights the widespread adoption of social platforms among various demographics, reflecting the evolving digital habits of UK adults. Younger users drive emerging platform adoption While established networks like Facebook maintain a strong presence, younger users are increasingly drawn to newer platforms. TikTok, for instance, has gained significant traction among the ***** age group, with over a quarter of UK smartphone users in this bracket using the app. Advertising trust varies across age groups and mediums The effectiveness of social media advertising differs across age groups, with trust playing a crucial role. Among consumers aged *****, ** percent reported not buying products promoted by influencers, indicating a potential shift in how younger audiences perceive and respond to social media marketing.

According to an October 2022 survey of social media users aged 16 to 24 in the United Kingdom, approximately ** percent of responders aged 16 to 18 reported using the platform daily. ***** in ** respondents aged between 19 and 21 reported using TikTok daily. In addition, users aged between 22 and 24 had the ****** daily use of the social video app at ** percent.

In 2024, the revenue generated from children's books in the United Kingdom amounted to 413 million British pounds. The revenue of children's books generally grew steadily from 2017 onwards, although gains between 2019 and 2021 were small, with the figure rising by only one or two percent year over year. The source suggested that the drop in 2023 could be due to cost-of-living factors as well as the publication cycles of bigger authors and the categories they are published into. Children’s book access Children’s access to books in the UK differs according to several factors. For example, children and teens with access to free school meals were the least likely group to be encouraged to read by parents or carers, or to talk about what they were reading with their family. Boys were overall less likely to read than girls, regardless of family income, and only around 18 percent said their friends helped them find things to read, compared to 30 percent of girls. Demographics also affect the likelihood of children having a book of their own at home. Whilst over 80 percent of all children aged five to eight years old owned a book, again, boys of this age were the least likely group to have one. Getting kids reading Encouragement from parents, carers, and teachers at a young age could help young children to engage with reading materials, as well as a diverse and relatable selection of books in key areas like the home, the classroom, after-school clubs, and libraries. An awareness of the amount of time spent on screens or on social media, as well as potential reduction of this, could also be worth exploring. Data shows that children and teens aged four to 18 years old in the UK spend more than two hours with TikTok each day – and whilst social media use among young people is now the norm, reduced screen time could help when attempting to encourage kids to engage with books and other reading material.

In August 2025, Instagram had over ** million users in the United Kingdom (UK). The largest share of Instagram users were individuals aged between 25 and 34 years old, at *****percent. This was followed by the category of users aged 18 to 24 years. Individuals over 65 years old, were less likely to use the social media platform, making up the smallest share of Instagram users during this period. Leading social media in the UK According to figures based on approximately ******* billion hits online per month, Facebook was the leading social media website in the UK as of November 2024, holding over ***** percent of the social media market share. This was followed by Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter). The Pinterest website ranked fourth during that period, with a market share of **** percent. Facebook: Leader in the UK The number of social network users in the UK experienced an increase of roughly *** million users between 2018 and 2023. The share of female Facebook users is slightly higher than the number of male users. At ********* of respondents, individuals aged between 25 and 34 years old made up the largest share of Facebook users in the UK. This was followed by roughly **** percent of users within the 35 to 44 years old category. Facebook usage appeared to be the lowest among those aged 65 and older.

The number of Instagram users in the United Kingdom was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 2.1 million users (+7.02 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Instagram user base is estimated to reach 32 million users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Instagram users of was continuously increasing over the past years.User figures, shown here with regards to the platform instagram, 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 July 2025, almost 33.3 percent of global Instagram audiences were aged between 25 and 34 years, and 29.7 percent of users were aged between 18 and 24 years. Overall, 17.4 percent of users belonged to the 35 to 44-year-old age group. Instagram users With roughly one billion monthly active users, Instagram belongs to the most popular social networks worldwide. The social photo-sharing app is especially popular in India and in the United States, which have about 480 million and 181 million Instagram users each. Instagram features One of the most popular features of Instagram is Stories. Users can post photos and videos to their Stories stream, and the content is live for others to view for 24 hours before it disappears. In January 2019, the company reported that there were 500 million daily active Instagram Stories users. Instagram Stories directly competes with Snapchat, another photo-sharing app that initially became famous due to its “vanishing photos” feature. As of the third quarter of 2025, Snapchat had 477 million daily active users.

As of November 2025, the United Kingdom had ***** million Instagram users. This figure marks a *** percent increase compared with the same month in the previous year. Influencers in the UK As of 2020, the most followed Instagram influencer in the UK was David Beckham. The former England international footballer and current president of Inter Miami FC had over ** million followers. DuaLipa was the top female influencer on Instagram in the UK.   Instagram demographics As of May 2025, Instagram's largest demographic in the UK is women between the ages of 25 and 34 years, which accounts for **** percent of the social platform's users in the country. In contrast, men and women belonging to the 65 years or older age group account for less than **** percent of the network's users in the UK. Instagram is most popular with the younger generation, much like another social media app which has recently been making waves; TikTok.  

According to a survey of internet users in Great Britain (GB) conducted between July 20 and 23, over half of respondents aged 18 to 24 reported having used Facebook in this period. The same amount of users in the age cohort reported having used TikTok, while 81 percent used YouTube in the examined time. Overall, Facebook was the most popular social media platform across the older demographics, with 72 percent of users aged between 50 and 64 reporting to having engaged with the Meta-powered social media in the examined period. The 2024 general election in the United Kingdom was held on July 4, and saw parties and politicians make ample usage of social media channels in the weeks before the country casted its vote.