Facebook is the biggest of all the social networks, by far, based on just about every measure. In this post, we lay out 47 current Facebook statistics—updated for 2021—that prove this enormous platform is still a must for marketers in almost every sphere.
Let’s explore the Facebook stats that will matter to marketers this year.
Download the complete Digital 2020 report to learn where to focus your social marketing efforts and how to better target your audience. The full study also includes more easy-to-understand data visualizations and shareable graphics.
General Facebook stats
1. Facebook has 2.74 billion monthly active users
That’s an increase of 12% year-over-year from September 2019.
If there’s one stat that proves the importance of incorporating Facebook into your marketing strategy, this is it. There’s simply no other platform that offers this kind of reach.
2. Facebook reaches 59% of the world’s social networking population
It’s the only social platform to reach more than half of all social media users.
3. Facebook is the world’s third-most visited website
It’s outranked only by Google and YouTube. When people spend time online, there’s a good chance they’re spending it on Facebook.
4. Facebook is the second-most downloaded app
And Facebook Messenger is number 7. Only TikTok beats Facebook for downloads.
Again, this indicates how prevalent Facebook is in our day-to-day lives, whether on the web or on our phones.
5. Facebook turns 17 years old in 2021
Mark Zuckerberg launched the first version of “The Facebook” on February 4, 2004. Most high-schoolers have never known a world without Facebook.
There’s no doubt that in those 17 years, Facebook has firmly established itself as the place we get our news, learn about new products, and communicate with friends, family, and businesses, as you’ll see in the Facebook statistics below.
6. 63% of Facebook staff are men
The company has been working on increasing diversity in its workforce, and the percentage of male employees is trending down from 69% in 2014. But men still make up the majority of workers at Facebook, and they fill a whopping 75.9% of technical roles.
Facebook user statistics
7. 57% of Facebook’s audience is male
And 43% is female. (Facebook limits its gender reporting to male and female.) For comparison, Instagram is almost equally split between men and women.
8. 32.4% of Facebook’s audience is aged 25-34
That’s the largest audience segment by age. The next largest group is aged 18-24, representing 23.5% of Facebook’s audience. Only 4.7% of Facebook’s audience is 65 or older, and only 5.8% is 17 or under.
9. 95% of the U.S. population over age 12 is aware of Facebook
Who are the 5% who have never heard of the social media behemoth? Good question.
10. 63% of the U.S. population over age 12 uses Facebook
While almost all Americans know about Facebook, about two-thirds of the population actually uses it.
That’s down from a high of 67% in 2017, but up from 61% last year.
Source: Edison Research
While that’s the overall figure, the percentage of American adults using Facebook varies by age range:
- 64% of 12- to 34-years olds
- 74% of 35- to 54-year-olds
- 52% of those 55 and over
11. Only 8.9% of Facebook’s audience is in the U.S.
Yes, we just told you the majority of Americans use Facebook: the network reaches 190,000,000 users in the United States.
But compare that to 310,000,000 users in India. The vast majority of Facebook’s audience lives outside of the United States.
12. The fastest growing region for Facebook is the Middle East and Africa (13.6%)
That’s followed by Asia at 10.7%. Facebook is also still growing in Europe and North America, and saw 8.7% growth globally in 2020.
However, Facebook is actually losing users in Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea.
13. 83% of Canadians have a Facebook account
That’s the top social platform by far in Canada. By comparison, 51% have an Instagram account.
14. 53% of U.S. Facebook users trust the platform to protect their data and privacy
That means 47% don’t. And of the 53% who do trust Facebook, 23% only do so “somewhat.” That’s the lowest trust level among social networks.
Cultivating a long-term relationship with your Facebook connections can help overcome their misgivings about the network. Make sure they understand the benefits of following you.
For more Facebook user statistics, check out our post on Facebook demographics all marketers need to know.
Facebook usage statistics
15. Facebook users spend 34 minutes per day using the platform
eMarketer had predicted a drop in time spent on Facebook in 2020, but the pandemic changed that. What are Facebook users doing during those 34 minutes? Read on.
16. 79.9% of Facebook users only access the platform on a mobile device
That means they never access Facebook on a computer.
By comparison, only 1.7% of Facebook users only access the platform on a computer. And 18.5% of users access Facebook from both a mobile device and a computer.
When planning your Facebook ad placement, consider which devices your particular audience is most likely to use.
17. 80.5% of mobile Facebook users access the app on Android
Only 14.3% use iOS. This is likely related to the small percentage of Facebook users who live in the United States.
18. 36% of people get news from Facebook
That’s the highest proportion among social networks. There’s an important discussion happening about Facebook’s impact as a source of news, and it’s one all businesses should keep tabs on.
But for marketers, it’s also worth considering what this Facebook stat says about the network’s value as a platform on which to announce new product launches, campaigns, or collaborations. If there’s a newsworthy angle to something you’re working on, make sure your Facebook followers know about it.
Source: Reuters Institute Digital Report 2020
19. 45% of new-music seekers aged 35-54 discover new music on Facebook
This is the only age group that lists Facebook as a top-3 source for new music discovery. For musicians catering to Generation X, Facebook is a key way to connect with potential new fans.
20. The most discussed moment on Facebook in 2020 was the death of Kobe Bryant
Facebook users in the U.S., Mexico, and the Philippines contributed the most posts about the late basketball star.
21. 500 million people use Facebook Stories daily
Creating content for Facebook Stories is different from creating content for the News Feed. The pace is faster, the aspect ratio is different, and you’ve got much less text to work with. But Stories have the strategic advantage of appearing at the top of the screen.
Download the complete Digital 2020 report to learn where to focus your social marketing efforts and how to better target your audience. The full study also includes more easy-to-understand data visualizations and shareable graphics.
For marketers struggling with the Facebook algorithm, this can be an easy way to make sure your content is seen.
22. Facebook users “love” about 8% of lawmakers’ posts, and express “anger” at 6% of them
These are the most common responses to lawmakers’ Facebook posts other than the generic “Like.”
For marketers, this serves as a good reminder to examine the types of reactions your posts inspire. Love is great. Anger may mean you should alter your approach.
Source: Pew Research Centre
23. 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger
That’s 23% of the world population over the age of 13.
And they’re using Messenger to communicate with brands. There are 10 billion messages sent between people and businesses on Messenger every month.
24. 1.8 billion people use Facebook Groups
And there are tens of millions of groups on Facebook.
Businesses and brands can create Facebook Groups of their own to interact with existing fans, or explore ways to connect with potential customers through existing public groups.
25. Local Facebook Group membership grew 3.3x this spring
That number is the growth from February to May, 2020.
As people found themselves sticking much closer to home, they used Facebook Groups to connect to their local communities.
26. The largest Facebook Group in the U.S. is The Blackout Coalition
With 1.8 million members, this group helps support Black-owned businesses.
More than 3.5 million people in the U.S. joined new Facebook Groups to support Black-owned businesses this spring.
27. Facebook Dating has created more than 1.5 billion matches
Facebook’s opt-in dating section launched in September 2019 and recently expanded into Europe.
28. An average Facebook user likes 12 posts per month
That’s one almost every other day. The average user also makes five comments and shares one post every month.
Posting compelling content that encourages engagement will help ensure you get your share of those likes, comments, and shares.
29. 96.3% of Facebook users use at least one other social media platform
90% of them use YouTube, 73% use Instagram, and 52% use Twitter.
Keep in mind that you can reach your audience across multiple platforms with remarketing. Installing the Facebook Pixel is a great place to start.
30. 54% of American social media users say Facebook is the platform they use most often
Yes, they’re using other social networks, as we just showed you. But Facebook is the one most people use most often. Only 16% say they use Instagram most often, and 5% name Twitter as their most-used social media site.
Facebook business statistics
31. 42% of businesses on Facebook are based in the suburbs
By comparison, 33% are urban businesses, and 25% are based in rural areas.
32. 48.5% of B2B decision makers use Facebook for research
That makes it the top traditional social network for B2B research, with only YouTube coming in higher at 50.9%. Don’t neglect Facebook when marketing to a business audience.
33. 18.3% of U.S. adults made a purchase through Facebook in the last year
Compare that to 11.1% for Instagram and 2.9% for Pinterest.
Source: eMarketer
34. Facebook clicks on searches for local business increased 23% from February to May, 2020
As the #SupportLocal trend took hold this year, people shifted their focus to local companies and products.
35. ⅔ of Facebook users visit a local business Page at least once a week
It’s not just the big brands succeeding with Facebook marketing. (Although they’re certainly using Facebook, too.)
Local businesses can use Facebook to create lasting connections with repeat customers within their own communities.
36. Facebook removed 3,716,817 pieces of content in one half year for copyright and trademark infringement and counterfeit reports
Social listening can help you discover if your own content or products are being misused or misrepresented on Facebook. If you discover a problem, reach out to Facebook for help having the content removed.
Facebook ad statistics
37. Facebook has an advertising audience of 2.14 billion
That’s the number of people Facebook reports can be reached with ads on its platform. It’s an increase of 2.2% (or 45 million users) since Q3 2020.
38. 47% of Facebook’s ad revenue comes from the U.S. and Canada
Based on “estimation of the geographic location of our users when they perform a revenue-generating activity.”
But remember: The vast majority of Facebook users live outside the U.S. If you sell a product that can ship internationally, or a digital product or service for which geography is not a factor, there’s huge untapped potential here for you to reach ad markets without a lot of competition.
39. The average price for an ad decreased 9% in Q3 2020
This is good news for advertisers, since it means you get (slightly) more bang for your buck.
40. An average Facebook user clicks on 12 ads per month
That’s one every 2.5 days. It may not seem like a huge number, but remember that not all ads require a click to be effective.
Most importantly, this Facebook stat shows that users continue to pay attention to and engage with Facebook ads, rather than tuning them out.
Women click on more ads (15 per month) than men do (10).
41. In the Philippines and Libya, Facebook ads can reach 100% of the population over age 13
Yes, everyone. That level of reach literally can’t be beat.
Facebook ads can reach 98% of the population in Malta, Samoa, and Aruba, and 97% in Mongolia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Facebook publishing statistics
42. The average Facebook Page shares 1.55 posts per day
Of those posts, 55.6% are photos, 22.2% are videos, 18.5% are links, and just 3.6% are straight status updates.
Want to make the most of your 1.55 posts per day? Check out our blog post on the best times to post on Facebook.
43. The average engagement rate for Facebook posts is 0.18%
Use this to benchmark your own engagement rate. If you’re not there yet, check out our list of ways to increase Facebook engagement.
44. Pages with fewer than 10,000 fans see 0.52% engagement
That’s a much higher number than the Facebook stat above. That’s because engagement declines as a Page’s audience grows.
Pages with more than 100,000 fans see only 0.10% engagement.
Facebook video statistics
45. The average engagement rate for Facebook video posts is 0.26%
Remember that the average engagement rate overall is just 0.18%. That’s strong motivation to incorporate video content in your marketing strategy.
46. Facebook Live viewership increased by 50% this spring
Facebook attributes the jump to people wanting to attend live events like fitness classes, or connect with people they can no longer support in person, like their favorite artists.
The week of the Easter and Passover holidays was the most popular week ever for Facebook Lives from spiritual Pages.
47. More than 1.25 billion people visit Facebook Watch every month
If your Page has more than 5,000 followers, try creating content for this video-specific tab within Facebook.
Manage your Facebook presence alongside your other social media channels using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule posts, share video, engage your audience, and measure the impact of your efforts. Try it free today.
The post 47 Facebook Stats That Matter to Marketers in 2021 appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
