For most of the world, Facebook is, without a doubt, the largest and most prominent social media site. Starting way back in 2004 in a Harvard dorm room, as the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg, the site experienced a meteoric rise. Transforming from a university network into the greatest social media service and communication platform the world has ever seen. Friends could post their thoughts, talk to each other, and like pages with their favourite interests.

As its contemporaries such as Myspace or Beebo fell by the wayside, Facebook only went from strength to strength. Brands soon realised that they could create their own video content, either in house or by hiring a video production company. The story was so captivating that it even became an Oscar-winning Hollywood Blockbuster, aptly titled ‘The Social Network – for there could be no other. Yet, while in 2010, when the film was released, the site boasted 400 million users, today that number has rocketed to over 2.6 billion monthly active users.

In the UK, the site has been wildly popular since its inception, gaining a million active users by 2007. However, is Facebook still the monolith it once was? Is the site still gaining new users, or has the heyday of the world’s biggest social media site passed?

Below we delve into the stats behind the giant: exploring the composition of Facebook users in the UK, the most popular content and content creators, as well as the current state of its advertising finances.

Key Facebook Statistics for the United Kingdom

  • Facebook has 44.84 million users in the UK
  • Facebook is used daily by 44% of the UK population
  • The largest age group using Facebook in the UK is aged 25 to 34 years old, with 11.2 million users
  • Since 2012, users aged 18 – 24 have declined from 24% to 16% in 2020
  • Users aged 65+ have increased from 4% in 2019 to 9% in 2020
  • 52% of users are women and 48% are men
  • Users spend an average of 23 minutes on Facebook every day
  • In Q1 2020, Facebook ad revenue growth rate was down 9% compared to Q1 2019
  • The most popular video creator on Facebook is LADBible with 1.6 billion views
  • The most popular Facebook group in the UK is Manchester United with 73m+ views

How many people use Facebook in the UK?

Currently, there are 44.84 million users in the UK, with the userbase still seeing considerable growth over time. Back in October 2018, the site claimed to have 39.3 million people. Between 2015 and 2021, it was estimated that Facebook’s UK userbase would rise by 7.93 percent, eventually growing to 42.27 million users by 2022. The site has surpassed the forecasts, with 2022 likely to see substantially higher numbers than predicted.

As such, the UK continues to be the largest market for Facebook in Europe. Followed by France with 32 million users, and Italy and Germany with 30 million and 28 million respectively. However, these markets are dwarfed by India with 280 million users, the US with 190 million, even Indonesia, which boasts an audience of 130 million. In fact, Europe as a whole only comprises 15.9 percent of Facebook’s entire userbase.

What percentage of the UK have Facebook?

Daily, Facebook is used more than once by 44 percent of the UK online population. Of the total population of the UK, 66 percent of people are Facebook users. Of the UK adults that go online, only 21 percent haven’t used Facebook at all. As of 2017, the company obtained a market share of 75% of the UK social media market – continuing to be the most dominant service in the landscape.

What age group uses Facebook the most in the UK?

In 2020, the largest age group using Facebook in the UK was 25 to 34-year-olds, with 11.2 million users. Meanwhile, the least likely to use the site were those aged 13 to 17, making up just 4.5 percent of the userbase. Back in 2019, 18 to 24-year-olds were the fourth most common age group, at 16 percent of men and 17 percent of women, behind 45 to 64-year-olds, and 35 to 44-year-olds. Surprisingly, over 65s still comprised greater than 9% of all users.

Since 2012, the 18 to 24 market has declined in prominence, when it comprised 24 percent of all users. In contrast, older users are now much more prominent on the site, with over 65s only 4 percent of users in 2012, suggesting an ageing userbase.

What gender uses Facebook the most in the UK?

Women are the most frequent users of Facebook in the UK with 52 percent of users, a trend that has been stable since 2012, likely reflecting the underlying demographics of the country.

However, female users are slightly more common than male users, 27 percent being aged 25 to 34, compared to 25 percent for men. In contrast, older men are more common on the site than older women.

Facebook does reflect a more equal gender balance than other social media sites. Between 2014 and 2018, on Twitter, male and female users account for 56 and 44 percent of users, respectively.

How long do people spend on Facebook in the UK?

According to Ofcom’s annual review of UK internet consumption, around nine in ten internet users visit Facebook each month, spending an average of 23 minutes per day on the site. 74% percent of Facebook users check the site at least once a day. With more than a third (35 percent) of total time spent on the internet in the UK being on websites owned by either Google or Facebook. Despite this, trust amongst users regarding the protection of user data was low, at only 31 percent.

How much ad revenue does Facebook generate in the UK?

Facebook has recently seen a drop in ad revenue during the first quarter of 2020, with a 17 percent growth rate, compared to a 26 percent ad revenue growth during the same period of 2019. In the UK, Facebook had previously seen rapid growth in ad revenue, from 181 million back in 2011, to over 2.5 billion by the end of 2019.

In 2018, the ad revenue generated in the UK was more than double that of Germany. When compared with other forms of digital advertising, social media was third behind search and banner. With the high penetration rate of Facebook into the UK market, brands can target their advertising campaigns directly to the users that matter.

Collectively, as of 2019, both Facebook and Google controlled 63.3 percent of the entire digital advertising market. However, by 2021 Google’s market share is expected to slump from 40 percent to 36.7 percent; meanwhile, Facebook will see a continued rise, jumping from 22.7 percent of the market to over a quarter, at 28 percent.

What is the most popular page on Facebook in the UK?

  1. Manchester United (73m+)
  2. Adele (61m+)
  3. Jason Statham (53m+)
  4. David Beckham (51m+)
  5. UNILAD (42m+)
  6. Manchester City (39m+)
  7. The Beatles (39m+)
  8. Coldplay (37m+)
  9. Arsenal (37m+)
  10. One Direction (36m+)

The most popular Facebook page in the UK is the football club Manchester United, with over 73 million followers. In fact, three football clubs make the top ten, with the other two being Manchester City, with almost 40 million followers, and Arsenal at 37 million.

Except for UNILAD – a social news company that focuses on funny videos and viral stories – Jason Statham, David Beckham and music dominated the rest of the top ten. Adele proved the second most popular page with almost 62 million fans, with classics such as The Beatles and Coldplay taking the 7th and 8th spots respectively.

Meanwhile, Amazon UK is the most popular brand page on Facebook in the UK in 2020, with 5.73 million local fans.

The fastest-growing pages in the UK also had a sporting slant, with The Emirates, Sheffield United and England Cricket all proving to be increasingly popular. Alongside them was culinary legend Gordon Ramsey, who had gained over 3,000 fans.

What is the most viewed video creator on Facebook?

Worldwide, LAD Bible continues to be the most popular video creator on Facebook, with 1.6 billion views. UNILAD and Viral TRND are tied for second place with both boasting an impressive 1.5 billion views.

A mind-bending 4 billion views of Facebook videos take place every single day. That breakdowns to 500 million viewers, sitting and watching 100 million hours of Facebook video content. Surprisingly, 85 percent of users watch videos with the sound off; however, most people are watching on the go, with 65 percent of views coming from mobile viewers.

Who has the most friends on Facebook?

Based on the number of fans, the most followed individual on Facebook is Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Facebook itself is the most followed page, with second place going to Samsung and Ronaldo in third.

The site also recently removed their limit on the number of confirmed friends each user was allowed. Priorly, there was a limit of around 1,000 friend requests in a queue, and a total of 5,000 confirmed friends. Pages had been developed as an alternative, as it was reported there were technical issues with bigger accounts.

Sources

UK Users:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1012080/uk-monthly-numbers-facebook-users/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/553538/predicted-number-of-facebook-users-in-the-united- kingdom-uk/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030055/facebook-users-united-kingdom/

Age Group:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/278287/age-distribution-of-facebook-users-in-great-britain/)

Gender:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/278281/gender-breakdown-of-facebook-users-in-great-britain/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/278319/gender-breakdown-of-twitter-users-in-great-britain/

Countries:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-based-on-number-of-facebook-users/

Advertising Revenue:

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/facebook-expects-ad-revenue-flat-april-steep-fall- march/1681865

https://www.statista.com/statistics/268738/facebooks-digital-advertising-revenue-in-the-uk/

https://www.emarketer.com/content/facebook-and-google-control-ever-greater-portion-of-uk-ad- market

UK Stats:

https://www.facebook.com/iq/insights-to-go/tags/united-kingdom

https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook/pages/total/united-kingdom

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/149253/online-nation-summary.pdf

Global Stats:

https://99firms.com/blog/facebook-video-statistics/

https://99firms.com/blog/facebook-live-stats/

http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Facebook-Statistics-2010.jpg

Video Views & Fans:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/537710/most-watched-facebook-video-publishers/

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2017/07/most-popular-facebook-video-of-all-time-revealed.html

https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2019/05/these-april-publishers-earned-the-most-facebook-video-views.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/269304/international-brands-on-facebook-by-number-of-fans/