Social media in Southeast Asia - statistics & facts

Social media has long outgrown its sole purpose as a means of communication, with platforms adopting features from other social networks to become users' go-to hubs for inspiration, entertainment, news, and, increasingly, business and commerce. Southeast Asia boasts a particularly dynamic social media market, as the region's countries have some of the highest daily time spent on social media within the Asia-Pacific region.

Mobile connections are the key to markets in SEA

Indonesia and the Philippines, Southeast Asia's most populous countries, also record the highest numbers of active social media users within the region. However, a look at social media penetration rates in SEA reveals untapped potential, especially in Indonesia, with the country remaining outside the top five. Rather than a lack of demand, this can be partially attributed to a lack of mobile connectivity across certain countries. Generally referred to as a mobile-first market across different industries, including gaming and streaming, users in Southeast Asia have some of the highest time spent using mobile internet across the APAC region. Simultaneously, mobile network infrastructures in some markets are not yet equipped to respond fully to this demand, with Indonesia being one example. While the country ranks within the regional top three in terms of daily mobile internet usage, a usage gap remains, with just over half of the country's population connected to mobile internet.

Social media platforms are becoming multipurpose hubs

With local super apps like Grab and Gojek providing different services from ride-hailing to online shopping or food delivery, multifunctionality has become a standard part of the user journey in Southeast Asia. The fast-growing social commerce market in Southeast Asia panders to this demand, as it enables users to purchase products marketed on social media without leaving the respective platform or app. E-commerce and social commerce saw a huge influx of new users during the COVID-19 pandemic, and three countries in Southeast Asia have already crossed ten billion U.S. dollars in social commerce market size. With the rise of influencer marketing in Asia and new digital ad formats like livestream advertising gaining traction in the region, the conjunction of social media and commerce can be expected to only grow further over the coming years.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

Most-used social media platform in SEA: Facebook

Largest social media user base in SEA: Indonesia

Country with the highest social media penetration in SEA: Brunei

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Share of social media influencers by number of followers in Asia in 2022, by country or territory

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Share of social media influencers by number of followers Asia 2022, by country

Share of internet users who use social media for work purposes in the Asia-Pacific region as of the first quarter of 2023, by country or territory

Social Media & User-Generated Content

Share of internet users using social media for work APAC Q1 2023, by country

Average daily time spent using social media in the Asia-Pacific region in the first quarter of 2023, by country (in hours and minutes)

Social Media & User-Generated Content

Daily time spent spent using social media APAC Q1 2023, by country

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Overview

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Internet usage

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Major platforms

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Leading platforms by market

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Social commerce

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Consumer behavior

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