The number of internet users in the world has now surpassed the 4 billion mark, putting more than half the global population online. Of that, social media brings nearly 3.2 billion active users online to connect with each other, consume media, interact with brands, and more.
The 2018 key findings include:
- Internet user numbers increased 7% in the last 12 months to hit 4.021 billion, or 53% of the world’s population
- Global social media usage has increased by 13% in the last 12 months, reaching 3.196 billion users
- Mobile social media usage has increased by 14% year over year to 2.958 billion users, with 93% of social media users accessing social from mobile
- Internet users are projected to spend a combined total of 1 billion years online in 2018, of which 325 million years will be spent on social media
Also….. global growth of the internet is propelling ecommerce forward, with 1.77 billion internet users purchasing consumer goods online in 2017, an increase of 8% compared to a year ago. Collectively, consumers spent a total of USD $1.474 trillion on ecommerce platforms in the past 12 months, 16% more than in 2016.
