Global Social Media statistics in 2025: 5.24 billion users and growing

The team behind DataReportal.com have released their most updated and largest Global Digital Overview report to date—a whopping 630+ pages of insights covering every aspect of how we interact with digital platforms, user preferences, growth, and declines. I always look forward to this report and use these insights to provide context and direction to digital strategies. I hope you find it useful too.

Digital in 2025: Things are moving fast

The digital landscape is undergoing rapid transformation: the continuous advancement of artificial intelligence at dizzying speeds, evolving social media behaviours, platform policies, algorithms and the growing influence of mobile video. The Digital 2025 Global Overview Report, jointly published by Kepios,  We Are Social and Meltwater, provides an insightful analysis of the latest data and trends, a necessary compass for all of us to navigate the digital ocean.

Here are just a few of the major themes that Kepios founder Simon Kemp and his team are highlighting from this year’s report:

Digital is taking a larger role in our daily lives

More people are spending more time online than ever before. 
[Spoiler alert] Yet, the time we spend on social media has declined. (Can we thank/blame you-know-who for this one?)

AI’s accelerating momentum

For better or for worse, from search to content creation, data analysis and more, artificial intelligence is reshaping our digital experiences.

How people discover brands and products

Traditional search engines are not the only game in town although they still dominate; social ads, websites and traditional TV ads are have a strong place in how users search for brands. As always, the top channels vary significantly depending on the age group.

The staggering scale of mobile video and its environmental impact

Beyond providing data on the increasing use of video as a key format for engagement prioritized and promoted by more and more social platforms and their algorithms, the authors also provide sobering data on the darker side of our energy-thirsty video addiction.

Unexpected insights into TikTok’s numbers and some initial data on Bluesky

Is TikTok’s dominance as strong as we think? Will Bluesky maintain its momentum or will it have the fate Meta's Threads?

The evolution of online shopping

And the rise of retail platforms as major advertising players.

The inevitable evolution of global TV habits

Streaming, social, and linear TV are shifting and the internet is now reaching more people than traditional TV.

Dramatic shifts in ad spend

With just over ONE.TRILLION.US.DOLLARS up for grabs, where are brands investing in 2025?

The latest trends across top social platforms

Which platforms are people using and why, and who do they follow? What is the role of influencers and how does that change from country to country? The report provides very useful national and regional segments, as user behaviours vary dramatically from content to content when it comes to social media adoption.

The rise of the silver economy

Why the 50+ age group is becoming digital’s next big opportunity.

And - as Simon Kemp puts it - that’s just scratching the surface.

⚠️ A crucial note on data interpretation
Before presenting or using this data, be sure to read the Important Notes section provided by the report’s authors. These notes clarify how to—and how not to—interpret the data, ensuring accurate and meaningful insights. Misinterpretation can lead to misleading conclusions, so it’s well worth taking a moment to review their guidance.

Read the full report on datareportal.com

And follow Simon on LinkedIn to get fresh data as soon as it is released.