Social media: there are now 4.20 billion social media users around the world. Global internet penetration now stands at 59.5 percent. Internet: 4.66 billion people around the world use the internet in January 2021, up by 316 million ( 7.3 percent) since this time last year. Unique mobile users have grown by 1.8 percent ( 93 million) since January 2020, while the total number of mobile connections has increased by 72 million ( 0.9 percent) to reach a total of 8.02 billion at the start of 2021. Mobile: 5.22 billion people use a mobile phone today, equating to 66.6 percent of the world’s total population. The United Nations reports that this figure is currently growing by 1 percent per year, which means that the global total has increased by more than 80 million people since the start of 2020. Population: the world’s population stood at 7.83 billion at the start of 2021. Here are the headline stats and trends for the global ‘State of Digital’ in January 2021: You’ll find our complete Digital 2021 Global Overview Report in the SlideShare embed below ( click here if that’s not working for you), but read on below for my detailed analysis of this year’s top headlines and trends. Please refer to these published growth figures whenever you want to compare changes over time.
We’ve been able to re-calculate internet user figures for last year based on the same sources we’ve used this year, so the annual and quarterly growth figures we’ve included in this year’s reports accurately reflect how much internet user numbers have changed over time. However, in most cases, this does not mean that internet users have actually dropped. Because of this change, the internet user numbers that you’ll see in this year’s report are not comparable to the numbers we published in previous years, and for many countries, this year’s internet users number will appear lower than the figures we published last year. This is to ensure that those duplicate and ‘non-human’ social media accounts don’t artificially inflate internet adoption figures. Internet user numbers: with a handful of exceptions where no other data is available, we’ve stopped using data sourced from social media platforms to inform our internet user numbers.
As a result, we’ve changed the way we talk about social media user numbers to make it clear that the figures may not represent “people.” We’ve also changed the source we use for social media users in China, which has resulted in some changes to historical figures, including global totals. This is because some social media accounts may represent animals, businesses, places, and various other kinds of ‘non-human’ entities, while some people may also manage more than one social media account on the same platform. Social media users: the figures we publish for social media users may not represent unique individuals. We’ve explained these changes in the footnotes of each relevant chart within the report, but I’d like to highlight two of those changes here: To ensure we can report the most accurate data, we’ve made important changes to the ways we calculate and talk about some of our numbers. Just before we get stuck into the numbers, I’d like to say a very big thank you to all of the data partners and providers who’ve made this year’s reports possible, especially:īefore we begin: important notes on changes to our methodology Why we need to change the metrics that guide our social media ‘mix’. Why mobile is essential, but not the only answer and The rapidly growing importance of ecommerce The evolving demographics of online audiences Some of the key themes to look for in this year’s reports include:Ĭhanges in how people search for information and brands