DIGITAL & TRENDS

Social media usage in India

 Table of Contents

01 Global overview Share of Instagram in social media market India 2020-2024 22

Social media: active usage penetration in selected countries and territories 2025 04
04 Other social networks
Countries with most WhatsApp Business app downloads 2025 05
WhatsApp user engagement in selected markets 2020-2024 06 Leading YouTube channels in India 2025, by video views 24

Countries with the most Instagram users 2025 07 Share of X in social media market India 2020-2024 25

Countries with the most Facebook users 2025 08 Leading Twitter profiles in India 2024, by number of followers 26

Number of active social media users APAC 2025, by country 09 Snapchat users in India 2019-2028 27

Average number of social media platforms used per internet user APAC 2024, by country 10 Share of LinkedIn in social media market India 2019-2024 28

02 Social media in India 05 Usage trends

Digital population in India 2025, by type 12 Most common social media activities in India 2025 30

Most used social media platforms by type in India 2023 13 Preferred platforms for influencer marketing India 2024 31

Leading social media sites India 2024 14 Social networks to access news India 2025 32

Monthly time spent on social media apps India 2024 15 Brand interaction of consumers on social media India 2024 33
Consumer interaction with user-generated content India 2023, by type 34

03 Meta Platforms
06 Advertising
Share of Facebook in social media market India 2019-2024 17
Facebook users in India 2019-2028 18 Revenue of the social media advertising market APAC 2025, by country 36

Facebook India revenue FY 2017-2024 19 Number of users reached by ads on select social media India 2025 37

Whatsapp users in India 2017-2025 20 Most impactful social media ad types India 2023 38

Instagram users in India 2019-2028 21 Reasons to not view social media ads India 2023 39

1
 Table of Contents

Digital media ads in violation of ASCI guidelines India FY 2024, by platform 40

2
CHAPTER 01

Global overview
 Active social network penetration in selected countries and territories in
2025
Social media: active usage penetration in selected countries and territories 2025

Share of population
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Saudi Arabia 102%

UAE 96%

South Korea 94%

Singapore 88%

Malaysia 84%

Hong Kong 83%

Spain 82%

Sweden 81%

Netherlands 80%

Austria 80%

Taiwan 80%

UK 79%

Canada 79%

New Zealand 79%

Colombia 79%

4 Description: 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. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; 2025; Active social media users as percentage of the total population; *The number of users may not represent the number of unique individuals. Percentages that exceed 100 percent may be due to discrepancies between [...] Read more
Source(s): DataReportal; Meltwater; We Are Social
 Countries with the highest number of WhatsApp Business app downloads
as of May 2025 (in millions)
Countries with most WhatsApp Business app downloads 2025

Number of downloads in millions

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

India 561.27

Pakistan 160.19

Indonesia 151.68

Brazil 90.7

Nigeria 57.87

Egypt 29.81

Mexico 26.7

Russian Federation 24.62

Colombia 21.09

Turkey 16.69

5 Description: With over 561 million downloads on Android devices, most WhatsApp Business downloads as of May 2025 came from users in India. Ranking second out of the 60 countries analyzed was Pakistan, with approximately 160 million lifetime downloads as of
the examined period. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; as of May 11, 2025; 60 markets were analyzed; all devices and on the Google Play Store
Source(s): AppMagic
 Monthly time spent on WhatsApp per user in selected markets worldwide
in 2020 to 2024 (in hours)
WhatsApp user engagement in selected markets 2020-2024

Time spent per user in hours

2024 2023 2022 2021 2020

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
16.1317.06
Worldwide 17.18 18.6
19.4
24.17 26.13
Indonesia 29.06 31.4
30.8
24.04
24.24
Brazil 28.1229.2
30.2
29.07
Argentina 27.12 28.59
28.8 31.4
16.2 17.11
Mexico 19.320
20.5
14.48 16.52
India 17.36 19.8 21.3
14.31 16.03
Singapore 16.18
17 17.8
Turkey 9.4810.32 11.54
13 15
8.369.07
Germany 1111.4
11.7
8.35
8.15
Russia 10.24
10.3
10
5.17
5.13
United Kingdom 8.36
8.89.3
3.474.24
Canada 7.367.9
8.2
3.59
4.18
United States 7.24
7.6
7.7

6 Description: In 2024, users worldwide spent approximately 16 hours using WhatsApp per month, down from over 17 hours of engagement registered by each user in 2023. Users in Indonesia spent 24.17 hours on average using the popular social and communication
app, while users in Brazil spent around 24.04 hours monthly on the app. In Australia, each user spent approximately 2.44 hours per month on WhatsApp, while users in the United States spent around 3.59 hours on average using [...] Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; 2020 to 2024; Android phones only
Source(s): Data.ai; DataReportal; Meltwater; We Are Social
 Leading countries based on Instagram audience size as of February 2025
(in millions)
Countries with the most Instagram users 2025

Audience in millions
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

India 413.85

United States 171.7

Brazil 140.7

Indonesia 103.4

Turkey 58.45

Japan 57.45

Mexico 48.75

United Kingdom 33.4

Germany 31.25

Argentina 28.9

Italy 27.75

France 26.55

Spain 24.8

South Korea 23.6

Philippines 22.85

7 Description: As of February 2025, India had a total of 413.85 million Instagram users, the largest Instagram audience in the world. The United States had 171.7 million users, and Brazil had 140.7 million. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan ranked in fourth, fifth and sixth
position, respectively. Kazakhstan is the leading country for Instagram audience reach, with 86.2 percent of the population using the social media service. Turkey came in second, with a penetration rate of 85.5 percent and Uruguay ranked third, [...] Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; February 2025; 13 years and older; based on addressable ad audience
Source(s): DataReportal; Meltwater; Meta Platforms; We Are Social
 Leading countries based on Facebook audience size as of February 2025
(in millions)
Countries with the most Facebook users 2025

Number of Facebook users in millions

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

India 383.5

United States 196.9

Indonesia 122.3

Brazil 111.65

Mexico 92.95

Philippines 90.75

Vietnam 76.2

Bangladesh 59.95

Thailand 50.95

Pakistan 49.4

Egypt 48.65

Nigeria 38.65

United Kingdom 38.3

Colombia 36.8

Turkey 34.8

8 Description: There are more than 383 million Facebook users in India alone, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. To put this into context, if India’s Facebook audience were a country, then it would be ranked third in terms of largest
population worldwide. Apart from India, there are several other markets with more than 100 million Facebook users each: The United States, Indonesia, and Brazil with 196.9 million, 122.3 million, and 111.65 million Facebook users respectively. Read more
Note(s): Worldwide; February 2025; 13 years and older; Based on addressable audience only
Source(s): DataReportal; Facebook; Meltwater; We Are Social
 Number of active social media users in the Asia-Pacific region as of
February 2025, by country or territory (in millions)
Number of active social media users APAC 2025, by country

Number of active users in millions

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

China 1,080

India 491

Indonesia 143

Japan 97

Philippines 90.8

Vietnam 76.2

Pakistan 66.9

Bangladesh 60

Thailand 51

South Korea 48.9

Malaysia 25.1

Australia 20.9

Myanmar 19.6

Taiwan 18.4

Nepal 14.3

9 Description: Chinese citizens displayed a strong online presence, having approximately 1.08 billion active social media users as of February 2025. Other Asia-Pacific countries and regions appeared to trail behind China in terms of their social media engagement. India
and Indonesia, the second- and third-ranked countries in terms of number of active social media users, had 491 million and 143 million active social media users, respectively. Read more
Note(s): Asia, APAC; February 2025
Source(s): DataReportal; Meltwater; Various sources (U.N., Government authorities, GSMA Intelligence, ITU, Eurostat, CNNIC, Kantar & IAMAI, Platform Resources, OCDH, Beta Research Center, Kepios Analysis); We Are Social
 Average number of social media platforms used per internet user per month
in the Asia-Pacific region as of 3rd quarter 2024, by country or territory
Average number of social media platforms used per internet user APAC 2024, by country

Number of platforms
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Philippines 8.36

Malaysia 8.12

Indonesia 7.93

India 7.64

Singapore 7.24

Vietnam 7.11

Thailand 7.11

New Zealand 6.78

China 6.72

Australia 6.54

Hong Kong 6.42

Taiwan 6.25

South Korea 4.42

Japan 3.49

10 Description: In the third quarter of 2024, internet users in the Philippines were typically active on over eight different social media platforms monthly. In contrast, internet users in Japan were active on an average of 3.5 social media platforms in a month during the
same time period. Read more
Note(s): Asia, APAC; Q3 2024; 16 years and older; internet users
Source(s): DataReportal; GWI; Meltwater; We Are Social
CHAPTER 02

Social media in India

 Digital population across India as of February 2025, by type (in millions)
Digital population in India 2025, by type

900
806
800

700
Number of users in millions

600

491
500

400

300

200

100

0
Active social media users Active internet users

12 Description: The introduction of the government’s Digital India initiative, hand in hand with the increasing internet penetration over the recent years, resulted in the country’s digital population surging to 806 million active users as of February 2025. More than half of
these were also active social media users. The traffic in the world’s second-largest internet market at this stage was largely dominated by mobile internet users. The causes and their effectsThe arrival of Reliance Jio services in 2007 provided [...] Read more
Note(s): India; February 2025
Source(s): DataReportal; Hootsuite; We Are Social
 Most used social media platforms by type in India as of December 2023
Most used social media platforms by type in India 2023

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Instant messengers (e.g., WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat) 77%

Media sharing (e.g., Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest) 75%

Social networks (e.g., Facebook) 68%

Business networks (e.g., LinkedIn) 44%

(Micro-)blogging (e.g., Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress) 36%

Discussion forums (e.g., Reddit, Quora) 27%

Consumer review networks (e.g., Yelp, TripAdvisor) 18%

I do not use social media regularly 1%

Other 3%

13 Description: 77 percent of Indian 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 24,201 consumers. Read more
Note(s): India; January to December 2090; 24201 respondents; 18-54 years
Source(s): Statista Consumer Insights
 Market share of leading social media sites across India as of October 2024
Leading social media sites India 2024

Market share by page traffic

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

X (formerly Twitter)

Pinterest

LinkedIn

14 Description: Facebook had the largest market share among social media platforms across India, at roughly 64 percent as of October 2024. The Meta-owned social network site has consistently led the country's social media market since 2019. Instagram was the
second leading social media platform during that period with a market share of over 25 percent, reflecting a fluctuating trend that emerged in the previous year. Read more
Note(s): India; October 2024; based on traffic from desktops, mobiles and tablets.
Source(s): StatCounter
 Monthly average time spent per user on social media apps in India as of
November 2024 (in hours, minutes)
Monthly time spent on social media apps India 2024

35

29.37
30
Time spent in hours and minutes

25

20.42 20.27
20

14.48
15

10

5.23
4.45 4.12
5
2.3
1.56 1.05 0.57 0.57 0.35
0
YouTube Facebook Instagram WhatsApp TikTok X Reddit Snapchat Telegram Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Line
Messenger

15 Description: YouTube was the most used social media app in India as of November 2024, with each user spending an average of 29 hours and 37 minutes per month on the online video platform. Facebook and Instagram were the second and third most used apps.
Read more
Note(s): India; as of November 2024
Source(s): Data.ai; DataReportal; Meltwater; We Are Social
CHAPTER 03

Meta Platforms
 Share of Facebook in the social media market across India from March
2019 to December 2024
Share of Facebook in social media market India 2019-2024

100%

90%

80%

70%
Market share

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

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17 Description: Facebook's share in India's social media market was about 51 percent in December 2024. The Meta-owned platform recorded a steady decline over the course of the year. Despite this, it remained the leading social media market player in the country.
Read more
Note(s): India; March 2019 to December 2024
Source(s): StatCounter
 Number of Facebook users in India from 2019 to 2028 (in millions)
Facebook users in India 2019-2028

800
724.9 739.66
694.58 709.28
700 680.43

600
546.44
Number of users in millions

500
422.48
400

289.48
300

195.03
200
134.21

100

0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

18 Description: The number of Facebook users in India was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 59.2 million users (+8.7 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Facebook user base is estimated to reach 739.66 million
users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Facebook users of was continuously increasing over the past years. Read more
Note(s): India; 2019 to 2028; all values are estimates
Source(s): Statista
 Revenue of Facebook India from financial year 2017 to 2024 (in billion
Indian rupees)
Facebook India revenue FY 2017-2024

35

30.64
30
27.76
Revenue in billion Indian rupees

25 23.24

20

14.81
15
12.77

10 8.92

5.21
5 3.42

0
FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024

19 Description: The Indian branch of Meta, Facebook India Online Services, generated an income of more than 30 billion Indian rupees in the financial year 2024. This was a result of a nine percent increase in operating revenues and a 25 percent decrease in non-
operating revenue that year. Simultaneously, the company's profits spiked by 43 percent that year. Read more
Note(s): India; FY 2017 to FY 2024
Source(s): ENTRACKR; Facebook (India); Meta Platforms
 Forecast of the number of Whatsapp users in India from 2017 to 2025 (in
millions)
Whatsapp users in India 2017-2025

900
795.67
800
734.14

700 662.73
Number of users in millions

581.93
600

493.31
500
400.7
400

292.43
300

190.64
200
134.27

100

0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

20 Description: In 2021, WhatsApp's user base in India amounts to approximately 493.31 million users. The number of WhatsApp users in India is projected to reach 795.67 million users by 2025. User figures 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. Read more
Note(s): India; 2017-2019; All values are estimates.
Source(s): Statista
 Number of Instagram users in India from 2019 to 2028 (in millions)
Instagram users in India 2019-2028

400 377.99
370.36
360.69
348.21
350 331.94

300
275.39
Number of users in millions

250
216.75

200
154.69
150
107.04
100
70.15

50

0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

21 Description: The number of Instagram users in India was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 46.1 million users (+13.89 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the Instagram user base is estimated to reach 377.99 million
users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of Instagram users of was continuously increasing over the past years. Read more
Note(s): India; 2019 to 2028; all values are estimates
Source(s): Statista
 Share of Instagram in social media market across India from January 2020
to December 2024
Share of Instagram in social media market India 2020-2024

45%

40%

35%

30%
Market share

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
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22 Description: The share of Instagram in India's overall social media market stood at nearly 35 percent in December 2024. This was an increase compared to the same period in the previous year, reflecting the growing trend that was noted throughout 2024. Instagram
has increasingly gained popularity among Indian social media users over the years, making it the second leading platform in the market after Facebook. Read more
Note(s): India; January 2020 to December 2024
Source(s): StatCounter
CHAPTER 04

Other social networks

 Most popular YouTube channels across India as of February 2025, by
video views (in billions)
Leading YouTube channels in India 2025, by video views

Video views in billions

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

T-Series 283.81

SET India 174.27

Sony SAB 125.22

Colors TV 77.55

Zee Music Company 74.03

KL BRO Biju Rithvik 58.48

ChuChu TV nursery rhymes and kids songs 53.85

Anaya Kandhal 49.42

Vijay Television 49.1

YRF 45.76

24 Description: T-Series' YouTube channel was the most viewed in India. The Indian music label had over 283 billion views as of February 2025. Trailing by a significant margin, SET India ranked second in terms of video views during the same period. Read more
Note(s): India; as of February 2025
Source(s): Website (sg.youtubers.me)
 Share of X in social media market across India from January 2020 to
December 2024
Share of X in social media market India 2020-2024

7.0%

6.0%

5.0%
Market share

4.0%

3.0%

2.0%

1.0%

0.0%
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25 Description: The share of microblogging site X, formerly known as Twitter, in India's social media market bumped up to nearly three percent in December 2024. Since the social media platform was acquired by Elon Musk, the company has been embroiled in legal
battles with the Indian government and faced stiff competition from Meta-owned platform, Threads. Read more
Note(s): India; January 2020 to December 2024
Source(s): StatCounter
 Most popular Twitter profiles in India as of February 2024, by number of
followers (in millions)
Leading Twitter profiles in India 2024, by number of followers

Number of followers in millions

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

@narendramodi (Narendra Modi) 89.45

@imVkohli (Virat Kohli) 56.45

@PMOIndia (PMO India) 53.34

@SrBachchan (Amitabh Bachchan) 48.51

@akshaykumar (Akshay Kumar) 45.92

@BeingSalmanKhan (Salman Khan) 45.2

@iamsrk (Shah Rukh Khan) 43.54

@sachin_rt (Sachin Tendulkar) 38.91

@iHrithik (Hrithik Roshan) 32.23

@priyankachopra (Priyanka Chopra) 27.77

@deepikapadukone (Deepika Padukone) 27.01

26 Description: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had the most popular Twitter profile in India, with over 89 million followers as of February 2024, followed by Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. The Prime Minister's Office dropped to third place. Interestingly, all the Twitter handles
on the list noted an increase in followers, except for Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone's whose followers figured around 27 million and had decreased since 2022. Twitter’s popularity in India The microblogging social networking site [...] Read more
Note(s): India; as of Feb 11, 2024
Source(s): Website (sacnilk.com)
 Number of Snapchat users in India from 2019 to 2028 (in millions)
Snapchat users in India 2019-2028

200 188.19
183.35 185.06 186.65
181.28
180
157.71
160
Number of users in millions

140 130.07

120
96.8
100

80

60 50.59

40

20 9.79

0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

27 Description: The number of snapchat users in India was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 6.9 million users (+3.81 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the snapchat user base is estimated to reach 188.19 million
users and therefore a new peak in 2028. Notably, the number of snapchat users of was continuously increasing over the past years. Read more
Note(s): India; 2019 to 2028; all values are estimates
Source(s): Statista
 Share of LinkedIn in social media market across India from April 2019 to
December 2024
Share of LinkedIn in social media market India 2019-2024

0.7%

0.6%

0.5%
Market share

0.4%

0.3%

0.2%

0.1%

0.0%
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28 Description: The share of LinkedIn in India's social media market shot up to 0.66 percent in December 2024. Despite this spike, the professional networking platform continued to hold a relatively low market share. The Indian social media market remained dominated
by Meta platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Read more
Note(s): India; April 2019 to December 2024
Source(s): StatCounter
CHAPTER 05

Usage trends
 Most common social media activities in India as of June 2025
Most common social media activities in India 2025

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Sent private messages 55%

Liked posts by other users or followed people 53%

Commented on posts 52%

Liked posts by influencers / content creators or followed influencers / content… 49%

Posted pictures / videos / texts / status updates 47%

Liked company posts or followed companies 42%

Shared posts by other users 40%

Shared posts by influencers / content creators 34%

Shared company posts 29%

I have only used social media passively 5%

I haven't used social media 2%

Other 5%

30 Description: "Sent private messages" and "Liked posts by other users or followed people" are the top two answers among Indian consumers in our survey on the subject of "Most common social media activities". Read more
Note(s): India; July 2024 to June 2025; 25891 respondents; 18-64 years
Source(s): Statista Consumer Insights
 Leading social media platforms for influencer marketing across India in
2024
Preferred platforms for influencer marketing India 2024

100%
93.8%

90%

80%

70%
Share of respondents

60% 54.4%

50%

40%

28.1%
30%

20%

10%

0%
Instagram YouTube Facebook

31 Description: According to a survey on influencer marketing in 2024, Instagram was the most preferred platform for influencer marketing in India. YouTube followed by a wide margin. Both these platforms offered wider reach and higher engagement rates.
Comparatively, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat were less preferred. Read more
Note(s): India; 2024; 500+ respondents; influencers and creators
Source(s): Influencer
 Social networks used to access news across India in 2025
Social networks to access news India 2025

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

YouTube 55%

WhatsApp 46%

Instagram 37%

Facebook 36%

Telegram 22%

X (formerly Twitter) 16%

32 Description: When asked about the different social networks used to access news as of 2025, a majority of the surveyed respondents in India stated YouTube, and WhatsApp as their main sources at 55 and 46 percent, respectively. X (formerly Twitter) had the lowest
popularity for news access among Indians in that year. Read more
Note(s): India; 2025; 2,044 respondents; among English speakers with access to the internet who had consumed news in the month preceding the survey period.
Source(s): Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
 Consumer-brand interaction experiences on social media in India in 2024
Brand interaction of consumers on social media India 2024

90%

80% 77%

70%
63%
58%
Share of respondents

60% 57%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Through social media, I have I engage with brand campaigns or I have purchased products directly I have been persuaded to buy a
discovered new brands that I hadn't competitions through social media through social media product or service because of an
heard of before influencer or celebrity

33 Description: According to a survey conducted among consumers in India at the beginning of 2024, 77 percent of the surveyed individuals said that they have discovered new brands using social media. In comparison, more than half of the respondents indicated that
they have purchased a service or product because of an influencer or celebrity. Read more
Note(s): India; January to February 2024; 1,000 respondents; 18-74 years; among consumers
Source(s): PwC India
 Consumer engagement with user-generated content in India in 2023, by
type
Consumer interaction with user-generated content India 2023, by type

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Videos of products 62%

Images of products 60%

Social media post 58%

Product ratings 50%

Product reviews or testimonials 45%

Q&A forum about a product 37%

Blog/vlog posts 33%

Live streams 29%

Others 6%

34 Description: According to a survey by Rakuten Insight on user-generated content (UGC) in India, product videos were the most engaged with user-generated content among 62 percent of consumers, followed by images of products in 2023. Social media posts were the
third most engaged with during the survey period. Read more
Note(s): India; 10 August to 31 August, 2023; 28,321 respondents; 16 years and older
Source(s): Rakuten Insight
CHAPTER 06

Advertising
 Revenue of the social media advertising market in the Asia-Pacific region
in 2025, by country (in million U.S. dollars)
Revenue of the social media advertising market APAC 2025, by country

Revenue in million U.S dollars

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 100,000 110,000

China 96,817.04

Japan 10,573.75

Australia 4,729.8

South Korea 3,732.66

India 1,632.94

Indonesia 1,380.89

Philippines 678.66

Thailand 671.5

Singapore 587.97

Malaysia 469.63

Vietnam 442.64

New Zealand 426.58

36 Description: The ad spending ranking in the 'Social Media Advertising' segment of the digital advertising market is led by China with 96.8 billion U.S. dollars, while Japan is following with 10.6 billion U.S. dollars. In contrast, New Zealand is at the bottom of the ranking
with 426.6 million U.S. dollars, showing a difference of 96.4 billion U.S. dollars to China. Find other insights concerning similar markets and segments, such as a ranking by country regarding revenue in the video advertising segment of the [...] Read more
Note(s): Asia, Australia and Oceania, APAC; as of October 2024
Source(s): Statista
 Number of people reached by advertisements on select social media
platforms in India as of January 2025 (in millions)
Number of users reached by ads on select social media India 2025

600

491
500

414
Number of users in millions

400 384

300

208
200
150
109
100

24.1

0
YouTube Instagram Facebook Snapchat LinkedIn Facebook Messenger X (Twitter)

37 Description: YouTube had an advertising reach of around 491 million users across India as of January 2025. This was the largest audience reached via ads recorded in the country that year. Instagram and Facebook followed with approximately 414 and 384 million
users respectively during the same period. Read more
Note(s): India; As of January 2025
Source(s): DataReportal; Facebook; Hootsuite; Instagram; LinkedIn; Twitter; We Are Social
 Social media ad types with the most impact according to consumers in
India in 2023
Most impactful social media ad types India 2023

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Ads developed by trusted brands 61%

Customer reviews 59%

Influencer ads 39%

Interactive ads 39%

Text ads 23%

Others 8%

None of the above 4%

38 Description: According to a Rakuten Insight survey on consumer attitudes to social media advertising in India conducted in 2023, social media ads developed by trusted brands were reported by over 60 percent of respondents to have the most impact. Customer
reviews were the next most effective form of social media advertisements. Trustworthiness was an important factor among Indian consumers who engaged with ads online. Read more
Note(s): India; July 13 to 31, 2023; 23,170 respondents; 16 years and older
Source(s): Rakuten Insight
 Reasons consumers do not want to see ads on social media in India in
2023
Reasons to not view social media ads India 2023

Share of respondents
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

I do not trust the ads shown on social media platforms 52%

It interrupts my viewing experience 34%

I do not want to see too many ads 31%

I dislike viewing repetitive ads from the same brand/product 22%

The content is irrelevant to me 13%

39 Description: According to a Rakuten Insight survey on attitudes to social media advertising in India conducted in 2023, a lack of trust was provided as the leading reason by over half the respondents who did not want to see social media ads. The second leading reason
provided by over 30 percent of respondents was the interruption of their viewing experience. Read more
Note(s): India; July 13 to 31, 2023; 7,821 respondents; 16 years and older
Source(s): Rakuten Insight
 Distribution of digital media advertisements in violation of ASCI guidelines
in India in fiscal year 2024, by platform
Digital media ads in violation of ASCI guidelines India FY 2024, by platform

OTT 0.2%
Mobile app 1.0% X (formerly Twitter) 0.3% E-commerce 0.2%
MAT Bulletin / E-Mailer / Google
Ad Word 1% LinkedIn 0.1%

YouTube 9%

Facebook 17% Instagram 42%

Websites 30%

40 Description: Among the various digital platforms, Instagram saw the highest share of digital media advertisements in violation of ASCI guidelines in India in the fiscal year 2024 at 42 percent. Websites accounted for the next highest share. 85 percent of all violative ads
across media formats were on digital media platforms in India that year. ASCI is a self-regulatory body of the Indian advertising industry that governs advertisements across all media types and formats alongside working towards [...] Read more
Note(s): India; FY 2024
Source(s): Advertising Standards Council of India
 Sources

Advertising Standards Council of India Various sources (U.N., Government authorities, GSMA Intelligence, ITU, Eurostat, CNNIC, Kantar &
AppMagic IAMAI, Platform Resources, OCDH, Beta Research Center, Kepios Analysis)
Data.ai We Are Social
DataReportal Website (sacnilk.com)
ENTRACKR Website (sg.youtubers.me)
Facebook
Facebook (India)
GWI
Hootsuite
Influencer
Instagram
LinkedIn
Meltwater
Meta Platforms
PwC India
Rakuten Insight
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
StatCounter
Statista
Statista Advertising & Media Insights
Statista Consumer Insights
Twitter

41