Users in Singapore some of the world's most active on Reddit, Telegram

Source: Digital 2025 report. Chart source: Ookla. Singapore has the highest fixed-Internet connection speed in the world. Figures represent median download speeds in Mbps for the three-month period ending November 2024. These are rolling quarterly averages. Prior to May 2024, the values were single-month averages.

Meltwater, a global media, social and consumer intelligence provider, and We Are Social, the socially-led creative agency, have released Digital 2025, their latest annual report on social media and digital trends worldwide. The 630+ page report covers data points from across the entire online ecosystem, from social media to smart devices, gaming and social commerce.

Digital 2025 shows that AI’s momentum is accelerating, social media is increasingly important for brand discovery, and that ad spend has increased significantly across digital, social and influencer platforms.

As part of the bigger picture, the research found that 5.78 billion people use a mobile phone today, which equates to 70.5% of the world’s total population. Unique mobile subscribers increased by 112 million over the past 12 months, delivering year-on-year growth of 2%. Meanwhile, the data shows that smartphones now account for almost 87% of the mobile handsets in use globally.

At the start of 2025, 5.56 billion people use the Internet, or 67.9% of the population. Internet users increased by 136 million (+2.5%) in 2024, leaving 2.63 billion people offline as 2025 began. 

In the wider digital ecosystem:

- Over half (56%) of online adults in the world’s top economies make online purchases every week, which points to an online shopping universe of roughly 1.7 billion in any given seven-day period.

- People over the age of 50 are underserved by the world’s marketers; across many of the world’s biggest economies, people over the age of 50 account for more than half of all consumer spend. 

- More than one in five online adults (22.1%) now listens to at least one podcast each week.

- The number of connected adults expressing concern about their online privacy is declining. Fewer than 3 in 10 adult Internet users say that they’re worried about how companies use their personal data online today, with that figure down by 7.1% compared on 2023.

Social media use

Global social media user identities now stand at 5.24 billion, an increase of 4.1% over the past 12 months. The typical Internet user spends 2 hours and 21 minutes using social media each day. More than six in 10 (61.5%) of Southeast Asia’s population are on social media, making up 10.2% of the global share of social media identities.

Half of all adult social media users now visit social platforms with the intention of learning more about brands; a figure that has steadily increased over the last year. Instagram tops the research charts, with 62.3% of its adult users researching brands on the platform. Facebook ranks second, (52.5%) with TikTok third (51.5%).  

Digital 2025 showed that 22% of active social media users follow influencers or other experts on social channels. This figure jumped to 30.8% for women aged 16 to 24.

Social platforms

YouTube was the ‘most used’ social media platform at the start of 2025, with an active user base 16% larger than second-placed WhatsApp; Facebook, Instagram and TikTok make up the top five. 

When it comes to the world’s ‘favourite’ social platform*, Instagram topped the charts, with 16.6% of social media users pledging their allegiance. WhatsApp ranked second with 16%, while Facebook came in third, with 13.1%.  

TikTok, whose Android** user base spent almost 35 hours using the platform’s app in November 2024; the average monthly time that the typical TikTok user spends using the platform’s Android app increased by almost two hours between August and November. The 6.6 billion TikToks tagged with #FYP attracted an incremental 24 trillion views in 2024 alone. 

Newer platforms like Threads now has 320 million monthly active users, of which more than 100 million are active each day. Threads topped the ‘active user growth’ rankings at the end of 2024. Bluesky has attracted more than 30 million registered users, but data.ai reported that the app still had fewer than 25 million monthly active users at the end of November 2024.

Ad spend

Digital ad spend has more than doubled since 2019. Marketers spent US$1.1 T on ads in 2024, with global spend increasing by US$75 B – 7.3% – compared to 2023. Digital channels now account for 72.7% of worldwide ad investment, with online spend exceeding US$790 B last year; a year-on-year increase of 10.3% (+$74 B).

Within the digital landscape, social media ad spend has increased to US$243 B, a 15% rise year-on-year. And brands’ continued interest in influencer marketing is reflected in a 14% increase in global influencer marketing spend over the same period. Annual influencer investment now at US$35 B. 

“With digital ad spend exceeding US$790 B in 2024 and social media ad spend growing more than 15% within that, it's clear that businesses are investing more than ever in capturing consumer attention. Along with this growing investment comes the growing need to prove ROI and show results based on marketing campaigns. With user behaviour on social platforms continuing to shift, teams need data to inform decisions about what platforms to prioritise and create strategies for,” said Alexandra Bjertnæs, Chief Strategy Officer at Meltwater.

AI

Digital 2025’s app data shows that ChatGPT tops the AI leaderboard, with its mobile app averaging more than a quarter of a billion monthly active users between September and November 2024. It was also one of the world’s most downloaded apps during that period, placing eighth in data.ai’s global ranking across all app categories. Data also shows that ChatGPT.com had an average of 310 million unique monthly visitors between September and November. These users made a combined 3.5 billion visits to the platform’s dotcom domain.

Other social media report highlights include:

- The world’s social audiences use 6.83 platforms per month on average. Southeast Asia nations use more platforms than the global average of 6.83. The average number of platforms used: 8.36 in the Philippines, 8.12 in Malaysia, 7.93 in Indonesia, 7.24 in Singapore, and 7.11 in both Vietnam and Thailand. On the other side of the spectrum, users in Japan visit fewer than 3.5 platforms per month.

- More than one in three active social media users say that they use social platforms for work-related activities.

- More than one in five (23.6%) of adult social media users now say that finding content related to sports is one of the main reasons why they visit social platforms. More than a third of Southeast Asia uses social media as a source of news.

- The Philippines and Indonesia are the top two gaming markets. Meanwhile, Thailand ranks third globally for time spent playing video games at 1 hour and 32 minutes daily – nearly half an hour more than the global average.

- LinkedIn’s global ad reach increased by 17% over the past year.

- Pinterest reported ad reach grew by more than 10% in 2024.

Toby Southgate, Global Group CEO at We Are Social said: “Social is where brands can win or lose - it’s central to brand discovery, consumer engagement, and commerce. At the same time, AI is revolutionising how we search, create, and interact, while influencers continue to shape content trends and consumer behaviours. 

"The opportunities for marketers to drive meaningful engagement have never been broader, but the complexity of digital and social media - evident in our 630+ page report - means there’s no single route to success. To create effective work, brands need to understand the cultural nuances of the online world, and create ideas worth talking about. Those who do will make an impact.”

The Indonesia snapshot

- Social media makes up nearly half (42.6%) of Indonesia’s share of online time. 

- Two-thirds of users in Indonesia actively seek out brands on social media. 

- Eight in 10 (82.1%) use social media for brand research.

- Indonesians spend close to two days per month on TikTok, clocking 44 hours and 54 minutes spent in the app.

The Malaysia snapshot

- Malaysians spend an average of 8 hours and 13 minutes a day on the Internet, ahead of the global average of 6 hours and 38 minutes. 

Malaysia social media use

- Malaysian internet users aged 16+ spend 2 hours and 46 minutes on social media each day, 44.9% of whom say reading news is their main reason for using social media.

- Active TikTok users in Malaysia on Android phones spend an average of 42 hours and 44 minutes per month on the app, as compared to the global average of 34 hours, 56 minutes.

Keen on video

- Malaysian Internet users spend 2 hours and 45 minutes daily watching any kind of TV content, 44.7% of which is spent watching streaming TV services as opposed to linear TV.

- Almost all (95.5%) Malaysian Internet users watch any kind of online video each week, mostly for educational or entertainment purposes. 

- About six in 10 (60.8%) watch online music videos each week.

- About half (50.3%) watch how-to videos, tutorial videos or educational videos each week.

- Only 27.9% of Malaysian Internet users say they watch vlogs or influencer videos each week.

Pre-purchase research

- Six in 10 (62.9%) Malaysian Internet users buy something online each week, and 59.3% of these online purchases were done on mobile.

- Six in 10 (61.8%) Malaysian Internet users research brands, products and services online before making a purchase. Globally, 51% of Internet users use search engines as the main source of information when researching brands.

- Over half (53.5%) of Malaysian Internet users research potential purchases on social networks (globally 46.1%).

The Philippines snapshot

- Filipinos spend an average of 8 hours and 52 minutes a day on the Internet. Most of this time is spent on their mobile phones at 5 hours, 21 minutes, which is also significantly ahead of the global average of 3 hours, 46 minutes.

- The average time spent on social media in the Philippines is 3 hours and 32 minutes – more than an hour above the global average.

Leading in digital communications

- Nearly all (98.9%) of Filipino Internet users use chat and messenger services each month, higher than the global average of 94.5%.

- More than nine in 10 (94.2%) of Filipino Internet users use email monthly, higher than the global average of 75%.

- Almost half (49.5%) of Filipino Internet users use mobile video calling services each month, higher than the global average of 35.5%. 

No. 1 in using online financial services

- More than nine in 10 (91.3%) Filipino Internet users use a banking, investment or insurance website or app each month. The Philippines usage is the highest globally and far exceeds Brazil which at 74.8% comes in No. 2. The global average of 37.8%.

- Digital payments average revenue per user (ARPU) as a percentage of GDP per capita is 28.2%. Roughly one in five (21.7%) of Filipino Internet users use mobile payment services (e.g. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay) each month. Only 8.1% of Filipino adults own a credit card.

Filipino social media use

- Filipino Internet users aged 16+ spend 3 hours and 32 minutes on social media daily, No. 4 globally in terms of time spent.

- Filipino Internet use of about 8.36 platforms each month makes them the No. 2 country in the world in terms of number of social media platforms actively used.

- More than four in 10 (44.9%) Internet users aged 16+ follow influencers or other experts on social media. This makes the Philippines the world leader for this activity. 

- Nearly half (48.3%) watch vlogs or influencer videos each week.

The Singapore snapshot

- Singaporeans spend an average of 6 hours and 33 minutes a day on the Internet - on par with the global average.

- Overall, 71.4% of Singaporean adults are concerned about what is real and fake on the Internet.

- More than a third (36%) of Internet users in Singapore are worried about how companies use their personal data online, and 39% of these Internet users decline cookies on websites at least some of the time, as compared to the global average of 34.5%.

Singapore social media use

- Singapore has one of the highest overall levels of social media use globally at 88.2% - No. 4 globally.

- Singaporean users aged 16+ spend 2 hours 2 minutes on social media daily.

- Active Reddit users in Singapore on Android phones open the Reddit app 116.9 times a month, the highest worldwide. They spend an average of 3 hours and 56 minutes per month on the app.

- Active Telegram users in Singapore on Android phones open the Telegram app 237 times a month. Singapore is ranked No. 3 globally, behind Russia and Finland.

- Active TikTok users in Singapore on Android phones spend an average of 34 hours, 29 minutes a month on the app, slightly below the worldwide average.

Explore

Read the report at https://www.meltwater.com/en/global-digital-trends

*The favourite platforms’ dataset from GWI does not include YouTube.

**According to the report, Apple’s privacy restrictions have made it more difficult to track iPhone behaviour, even if users want to participate in research, so the data only includes Android activity.