Whether it is posting pictures of beautifully made Dalgona coffee or discussing IPL cricket matches, the use of social media in India is undoubtedly booming.
The penetration of accessible internet connectivity and the recent lockdown have drastically increased the country’s number of social media users. The Digital India initiative sponsored by the Indian government has also contributed to this growth.
Data reveals that this growth will continue to increase. Let’s have a look at the numbers.
- How Many Social Media Users in India?
- India Social Media Statistics & Facts – 2021
- Demographics of Social Media Users in India
- Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Social Media Usage
- Top Social Media Trends in India 2020-2021
How Many Social Media Users in India?
Here is a quick look at some statistics on social media in India to get you started:
- The number of social media users in India were 376.1 million in 2020
- The number of users is expected to cross 448 million by 2023.
- Facebook is the most used social media platform in India, with around 86% traffic. Instagram and YouTube are far behind Facebook, with 5% traffic on Instagram and 3.2% traffic on YouTube.
- Indian social media users downloaded 19 billion apps in 2019 alone – More than any in the world!
- There has been a 195% growth in downloaded apps in India since 2016
Read on to find out more!
Social Network User Penetration in India
There were 376.1 million social media users in India in 2020
You read that right!
India made a significant jump from 326.1 million social media users to a whopping 376 million users.
The majority of Indians use mobile phones to browse the internet
Internet users in India use mobile phones as cheap alternatives to Wi-Fi and broadband connections that need laptops, PCs, and other equipment.
India has the leading mobile data users in the world
On average, 11 gigabits (GB) data is consumed by Indian mobile users every month, making India the leading mobile data consumer globally. The overall mobile data consumption in the country increased by 47% in the year 2019.
96% of data traffic consumed constituted 4G usage throughout the country, whereas 3G experienced a 30% decline.
Indian social media users downloaded 19 billion apps in 2019 alone – More than any in the world!
India has topped the list for the most apps downloaded in any country, with more than 19 billion apps downloaded in 2019. This has resulted in a 195% growth from 2016!
Facebook has been the most used social media platform in India
Facebook leads the way in the most popular platforms with 86% traffic. Instagram and YouTube are far behind, with 5% traffic on Instagram and 3.2% traffic on YouTube.
TikTok was downloaded the most in 2019
The sudden popularity of TikTok videos among social media users in India made it the most downloaded app in 2019. Flipkart and Amazon were the leading shopping platforms.
Video content is the most-watched content on social media by Indian users
97% of social media users in India mostly use these platforms to watch videos
India Social Media Statistics & Facts – 2021
India earned the third position among the top countries using Twitter
With 18.9 million Twitter users in India, the country was ranked right behind Japan. The total Twitter users’ statistics in India still didn’t surpass Facebook users’ numbers. 18% of the users look at this social media platform as a source of news.
As of December 2020, total Facebook users in India made up 28% of the overall Indian population
A report showed that there were 391,700,000 FB users in India by the end of December 2020. 75% of them were men, and the largest user group ranged between 25 to 34 years.
Three-quarters of Facebook users visit the platform every day
74% of all Facebook users use this social media platform every day.
Instagram users’ statistics in India make up almost 10% of the Indian population
This probably makes you wonder, “How many Instagram users in India?†Statistics have revealed that as of December 2020, there were 137 280 000 Instagram users in the country. Like Facebook, the majority of users are men (73.3%).
The largest user group ranged between the ages of 18 to 24 years.
India is the second leading country of Instagram users after the U.S.
While the U.S. takes the lead in the number of Instagram users, India follows at second with 73 million Instagram users.
The YouTube market across India, statistics show, has experienced a significant boom!
As of 2019, there are more than 265 million active YouTube users every day, with 1,200+ channels boosting more than one million subscribers! That is a massive increase considering there were only 300 Indian creators who crossed the 1 million mark in 2018.
More than 95% of YouTube consumption was in Indian languages
The majority of all videos online are watched in local languages. Moreover, Bengali content has also experienced an increase in online videos viewed in India.
LinkedIn audience size Statistics in India is also larger than in other countries
As of December 2020, there were almost 74 million LinkedIn users in India. This number makes up 5.3% of the population in India.
The largest user group ranged between the ages of 25 to 34 years.
India is the second leading country with the highest LinkedIn users
Like it is the case with Instagram, the U.S. leads the list with the highest LinkedIn users, but India follows, with 61 million users.
Indian Snapchat users, statistics revealed, are the second-highest in the world
Snapchat’s audience base in India makes up 33.8 million users, with mostly a younger audience. The U.S. tops the list with a large margin with 97.55 million users.
There has been a significant splurge in the TikTok users in India in 2019
Tiktok users’ statistics in India has experienced a significant jump as compared to other social media platforms. This app has been an instant hit in the country. With 1.5 billion downloads around the globe, India led the list with 446.8 million downloads.
Due to the increasing popularity of TikTok in India, this social media platform was the most downloaded back in 2019.
TikTok users in India spent 5.5 billion hours on this app!
There has been a shocking increase in the 900 million hours TikTokers in India spent in 2018 to 5.5 billion hours in 2019. This significant jump highlights the phenomenal growth this app has experienced and is continuing to do so.
The WhatsApp users in India doubled in the rural areas in the past two years.
The Indian WhatsApp users statistics showed a 100 percent increase in rural areas, showing that this messaging service’s reach has widened beyond the urban areas. Aside from the popularity of WhatsApp in rural areas, Instagram and TikTok are becoming popular as well.
Demographics of Social Media Users in India
When you look at social media users, by age group, 54% of users are between 20 and 39 years
As of early 2019, 54% of Indian social media users were between 20 and 39 years old. Indians above 40 years of age take up the smallest share of social media use. The biggest social media user group is between the age group of 12 and 15 years.
India users daily spend 2.4 hours on social media platforms
The average time spent on social media apps by Indian users every day is slightly below the worldwide average of 2.5 hours/day.
The use of social media by rural youth in India has experienced a significant increase
The majority of social media users in the rural areas of India were males in 2019. 72% of rural social media users were male, and just 28% were women.
On the other hand, women social media users are higher in urban areas, making up 38% of the share, and urban male users making up 62% of the share.
The number of social media users in India is expected to cross 440 million users in the next three years
In 2019, the number of social media users was 330 million due to easy availability, with 290 million users accessing the internet through mobile phones. This number is estimated to reach 448 million by the year 2023.
The age of an average social media user in India is 27.1 years
Gen Z and Millennials make up the major part of overall social media users in India. Leading the pack, 52.3% of social media users are millennials. However, 28.4% of conversations on social media are from Gen Z, and merely 15.1% are from the ones aged between 35 and 44 years.
Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Social Media Usage
There has been a significant increase in social media usage across the globe due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus. Let’s have a look at the statistics of social media use in India during the lockdown:
There was an 87% increase in the usage of social media in India during the lockdown
Indians, like other citizens worldwide, turned to the many social media platforms during the lockdown to pass their time and stay informed. India experienced an 87% increase in social media usage in the first week of lockdown.
There was a jump from 150 mins/day to 280 mins/per day in the first week of lockdown
On average, the social media users in India spent 150 minutes every day on social media. However, the first week’s lockdown saw the figures increase by 280 minutes every day.
The average time spent by users in India was four hours in the initial lockdown phase
During the initial few months of the lockdown, Indians spent at least four hours every day on various social media platforms.
The sudden spike in social media during the initial lockdown phase reduced in the next months
By June, there was a slight dip in the hours users in India spent on social media platforms. On average, the social media users in the country spent three hours and 37 minutes browsing social media.
Most watched content on social media in India during the lockdown was DIY videos
Around 61% of the social media resources consumed during the lockdown in India were DIY videos. Not surprising as people all over the world tried out new things while at home.
Top Social Media Trends in India 2020-2021
2020 has been a unique year for all of us. The COVID-19 pandemic led people towards social media for multiple reasons. It became the only source of news and updates regarding coronavirus, a means to check up on our family and friends, trying out new things, studying, working, and whatnot.
There was a drastic increase in social media usage in India during the lockdown. The country witnessed a splurge in social media consumption as well as various trending topics and conversations. Let’s have a look at the top current social trends and topics in India:
Coronavirus was the top trend in India, as well as across the globe
This comes as no surprise that the term ‘coronavirus’ became the top trending search term or topic in 2020. This term reached a score of 100 in terms of search traffic on March 27, 2020, which was four days after the lockdown started in India.
The search term started declining in India’s top trends but spiked again after the second lockdown came into effect.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) beat Coronavirus in trending terms in India
Considering the love for cricket among Indians, it comes as no surprise that the IPL became one of the top trending terms in India, beating not only the coronavirus but also the 2020 US Presidential elections.
Hindi language video content was most watched by social media users in India
In India, the social media users watched a higher amount of Hindi language videos with a 37.5% share, followed by Telugu and Tamil language video content with 33% share.
Comedic content was constantly trending throughout the year
More than 27% of social media users shared or created comedy related videos and content, making it the most trending topic of the year. Entertainment and fitness-related conversations also experienced a rise with 16% and 17% content from these genres, respectively.
Numerous local and international celebrities death also became a trending topic
The death of Chadwick Boseman became the most retweeted post in India. This was followed by love and condolences tweets and hashtags after the death of local celebrities, including Sushant Singh Rajput, Rishi Kapoor, and Irfan Khan.
Dalgona coffee made it to the top trending topics in India, among other topics
Among the many trending topics related to recipes, Dalgona coffee became one of the top trending topics. Other trending topics included “How to make sanitizers,†“#IndiaChinaFaceOff,†“#GeorgeFloyd,†“What is coronavirus?†and “How to increase immunity?â€ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ
The socially conscious audiences increased in India in 2020
2020-21 saw an increase in people taking a stand against problems everyone had traditionally stayed away from before. These topics include politics, social injustice, mental health, and so on.
Gen Z has been highly vocal about these issues, which lead to a major impact on sales, brands, and other trends. So far, this is the most important social media trend in India to come in years and is expected to grow in 2021 and beyond.
Narendra Modi’s Facebook page has been the most popular among social media users in India
Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been the most followed in all of the popular social media platforms. His Facebook page is extremely popular and the fastest-growing Facebook page in India.
Conclusion
These statistics clearly show that social media in India is booming, and had a successful 2020. Social media has become a constant part of everyone’s lives, from the moment we wake up until we can’t keep our eyes open at night.
While Facebook remained the most used social media app in India, other most popular social media platforms include YouTube and Instagram, with TikTok rapidly gaining popularity.
These social media users’ statistics of India can prove to be highly useful for numerous digital marketing companies. For instance, the Facebook users’ statistics in India showed just how popular the platform is, even with the emergence of numerous other social media platforms. These states hence make Facebook an ideal platform to reach audiences through different marketing and advertising strategies.
