Social Media Statistics for 2023 // Facts & Figures

• Social media, now at 1 hour 57 minutes per day, accounts for roughly one-third of the time spent online, making it the second most popular media activity for Australians after watching television.
• 98% of Australian internet users aged 16-64 still use a conventional search engine, with 66.3% of Australians using the internet for finding information. 
• As of October 2022, Australia had 23.60 million internet users, a huge 89% of total population.
• Of those internet users, Australia had 21.45 million social media users with social media penetration in Australia is currently at 82.7%.
• As of October 2022, the average Australian spedns an average of 6 hours and 13 minutes per day on the internet. 
• And yes, video and audio is still huge. 88% of internet users watch online videos, 34.5% watch vlogs, 64% stream music online, 35% listen to podcasts and 34% stream radio stations online.
• TikTok was also the second most downloaded mobile app in Australia last year – unsurprisingly, after Zoom.
• With travel and mobility curtailed, 75% of Australians went online to do their shopping, creating a large spike in a wide range of markets; fashion, groceries, electronics, DIY, hobbies, and over two-thirds of 55-64 year olds regularly went online for their purchases.
• But with all this extra time online, internet users are becoming increasingly worried about its effect on their wellbeing, as well as online privacy. 63.9% of Australian internet users have expressed concern about what is real or fake on the internet, 44.7% have deleted cookies from their web browsers, 40.7% have expressed concerns about how companies are using their data, 36% have used an ad blocking tool and 17.5% have tracked their screen time or set limits for apps.

• 28.2% of social media users discover new brands through ads on social media, and 24.4% from recommendations or comments on social media.
• Social networks are second only after search engines as the most popular source of information for researching brands, at 44.8%. But in the 16-24 year old age bracket, social is on top at 53.2%.
• But, only 23% of social marketers use social data to measure ROI and 16% use social data for competitive insights.
• 45% of consumers say they’re more likely to research a product or service when an employee posts about it, compared to only 32% saying they’ll do so if a celebrity posts about it.
• 69% of social marketers say increasing brand awareness is their number one goal for social media.
• 96% of people talking about brands on social media aren’t following those brands.
• 91% of users want brands to be authentic with their social media content.
• 89% of consumers say they will buy from a brand they follow on social media and 84% will choose that brand over a competitor.
• 75% of consumers say they’ll increase their spending with brands they follow on social.
• The majority of both social marketers (74%) and consumers (68%) said they planned to use Facebook more in the coming year; additionally, 53% of social marketers and 34% of consumers plan on using Twitter more.
• Global social media ad spend grew 9.1% in 2020, reaching a total of US$97.66 billion.
• As social marketers target younger audiences, they need to keep an eye on the change in platform usage. Facebook reigns supreme with Millennials and older, but members of Generation Z prefer YouTube (87%) and Instagram (85%).
• Half of consumers say they’re most likely to use social media during a major personal milestone and 45% say they’re on social media during a sporting event.

Why do consumers follow brands?

• 57% of consumers will follow a brand on social media to learn about new products and services.
• 47% of consumers follow brands to stay up to date on company news
• 40% of consumers want to learn about promotions and discounts.
• As for which types of content consumers want to engage with, 68% say they prefer to interact with images while 50% like to engage with video content.
• 44% of consumers also say customer service distinguishes a brand from its peers.
• 40% of consumers expect brands to respond within the first hour of reaching out on social media, while 79% expect a response in the first 24 hours.
• Average brand response rates by industry reveal that legal and real estate businesses have the highest average response rate (29%) while sports have the lowest (7%).
• 54% of consumers welcome brand posts during sporting events.

Why do consumers unfollow brands?

• Consumers are very uninterested in seeing brand posts during a natural disaster (14%).
• 51% of consumers will unfollow a brand if the content shared is irrelevant. 43% will unfollow if they see too many ads and 35% if they see too many promotional posts.
• 19% of people will unfollow a brand based on poor hashtag usage.

What about Australian consumers?

• One third of Australian consumers agree that they will inspect a brand’s social media presence before making an online purchase if they have not purchased from their website before.
• Among Australian consumers using Facebook and Instagram, 84% and 48% respectively claim to be following brands or businesses on those platforms. Females and those aged between 18 and 39 are above average in this behaviour.
• 82% of Australian consumers following brands or businesses on social media are keen on accessing benefits like discounts (62%) and give-aways (47%) from them. SMBs who offer incentives (39%) are in tune with this, being most likely to offer discounts (67%) and giveaways (45%).
• Over half of Australian consumers said they are more likely to trust brands if they interact positively with customers on social media (51%), make their content engaging and relevant (54%), and keep it regularly updated (53%). Among females and those aged 18-29 and 30-39 we find 60% or even more displayed such trust.
• 23% of Australian consumers like sponsored posts from businesses they follow on social media. However, 53% agree that they ignore sponsored posts from businesses they don’t follow, with only 15% disagreeing.
• 25% of Australian consumers share brand content they have noticed on social media. This is done by around one third of those aged 18-39.
• 37% of Australian consumers feel comfortable about having any of their content being posted on a brand channel. The older the person, the less likely they are to feel comfortable about this.
• 65% of Australian SMBs invite online comments, ratings or reviews and 62% engage with people who provide feedback about their business via ratings and reviews on social media.
• 43% of Australian consumers provide online ratings for a wide range of products or services, averaging seven in the last year. This incidence is higher for females and those aged 18-39.
• Over two thirds of Australian consumers (68%) read online reviews or blogs to find out what others think about products or services of interest. They average reading seven reviews before making a purchase decision.
• 42% of Australian consumers have posted online reviews or blogs on products and services or entertainment, averaging six in the last year.
• If a business gets back to the consumer after they posted a bad review, 26% of Australian consumers said it would change their opinion of that business. Those aged 18-29 were above average in giving this response (39%).
• Twenty-two per cent of SMBs say they’re concerned about receiving negative reviews or ratings online.

• One in five SMBs (21%) do not have a strategy to drive traffic to their social media channels.
• Small businesses are less likely than medium businesses to have a social media strategy (26% vs 13%). Similarly, businesses in regional areas are less likely to have a strategy in place than businesses in metro areas (28% vs 17%).
• Thirty-four per cent of businesses in the cultural and recreational industry do not have a social media strategy.
• The most prominent way for SMBs to drive traffic to their social media channels is through links on their business website (50%)
• Liking, following or subscribing to other businesses or users on social media is another relatively popular method (26%).
• Leading reasons why Australian SMBs use social media are to promote the business (33%), create awareness and exposure (28%), connect and interact with their consumer base (19%) and generate sales (17%).
• Sixty-three per cent of Australian SMBs use social media channels to engage in two-way communication with customers and contacts.
• For the majority of SMBs, their social media presence is made up of written content, photos, images and videos. This remains consistent across small to medium businesses and industries and locations.

Social Media Budgets and Advertising 

• One in four SMBs (25%) do not allocate any of their marketing budget to social media costs.
• By industry, the average budget allocation for social spend ranges from 10% in building and construction to 15% in retail, finance and insurance.
• 79% of SMBs manage their social accounts internally, rather than asking someone else to do it.
• When SMBs seek social media support it’s most likely to come from digital agencies (32%), freelancers (26%) or specialist social media agencies (19%).
• On average, SMBs expect their social media spend will increase sales by 12%

• Medium businesses are more likely to advertise on traditional media (21%) or on other websites (19%) than small businesses.
• Businesses continue to advertise on social media with 37% of the surveyed SMBs saying that they have paid for advertising.
• Advertising on social media is more common among medium sized businesses than in small businesses (44% vs 34%) and in metro areas as opposed to rural (41% vs 31%).
• The wholesale industry leads the pack as being most likely to advertise on social media (54%), meanwhile cultural and recreational services are the least likely to (26%).
• The average estimated annual expenditure by Australian SMBs on social media advertising is just over $3,000. Together with their average estimated expenditure on content and strategic management services (almost $2,300 on each), Australian SMBs spend a total of almost $7,600 on their social media each year. As a percentage of their marketing budget (where one exists) this amount represents 12% on average.
• Among the Australian SMBs who have advertised on social media, Facebook (83%) has been used much more than others such as Instagram (22%), LinkedIn (16%) or Twitter (12%). Regardless of the social media channel used for advertising, around 80% of Australian SMBs say it was effective.
• Aussie SMBs are a generous bunch, with 37% saying they offer incentives to current and potential customers via social media. This practice is most common in the wholesale (56%), hospitality (55%) and retail (54%) industries. Among the incentives offered, the most popular types are discounts (67%) and giveaways (45%).
• Only 5% of SMBs admit to paying social influencers to promote their business. Of those who did pay to use social influencers, 61% say the tactic was successful.

The figures below are based on monthly active users, active user accounts, advertising audiences and unique monthly visitors.

1. Facebook – 2.91 billion
2. YouTube – 2.56 billion
3. WhatsApp  – 2 billion
4. Instagram – 1.45 billion
5. WeChat – 1.26 billion
6. TikTok – 1 billion
7. Facebook Messenger – 1.0 billion
8. Douyin – 613 million
9. Snapchat – 589 million
10. Kuaishou – 578 million
11.  Sina Weibo – 573 million 
12. QQ – 552 million
13. Telegram – 550 million
14. Pinterest – 431 million
15. Reddit – 430 million

The following 10 countries lead the world with 99% internet adoption compared to its population.

• Bahrain 
• Denmark 
• Iceland 
• Ireland 
• Kuwait 
• Liechtenstien 
• Luxembourg 
• Normway 
• Qatar 
• U.A.E

Below is the % share of the world’s total offline population, based on region.

• Northern Europe – 0.1%
• Western Europe – 0.4%
• Northern America – 1.0%
• Southern America – 3.3%
• Southern Europe – 0.7%
• Central America – 1.9%
• South Eastern Asia – 6.3%
• Eastern Asia – 15.5%
• Eastern Europe – 1.4%
• Oceania – 0.4%
• Western Asia – 2.6%
• Caribbean – 0.5%
• Northern Africa – 3.1%
• Southern Africa – 0.8%
• Southern Asia – 36.7%
• Central Asia – 0.9%
• Western Africa – 8.2%
• Eastern Africa – 11.7%
• Middle Africa – 4.8%

Below are the top ten countries globally for mobile internet connection speed.

1. United Arab Emirates
2. South Korea
3. The Netherlands
4. Saudi Arabia 
5. Denmark 
6. China
7. Switzerland
8. Canada
9. Australia
10. Singapore

Below are the top ten countries globally for fixed internet connection speed.

1. Chile 
2. Singapore
3. Monaco
4. Thailand
5. Denmark
6. Hong Kong
7. Macau
8. China
9. U.S.A
10. Spain

Below is the average amount of time per day internet users aged between 16 – 64 spend with different media and devices:

• • Using the internethttps://share.smperth.com/c4h – 6 hrs 54 mins

• Watching TV – 3 hrs 24 mins

• • Using social media – 2 hrs 25 mins

• Reading press media – 2 hrs 2 mins

• • Listening to music streaming services – 1 hr 31 mins
  • Using a games console – 1 hr 12 mins

• Listening to broadcast radio – 1 hr

• Listening to podcasts – 54 mins

We’re happy to part with some cash for all this media too – 72.5% of internet users worldwide have paid for digital content. The most popular being movie or TV streaming services (31.2%).

Below is a list of the top mobile apps globally by average monthly active users, excluding China:

1. Facebook
2. YouTube
3. WhatsApp
4. Instagram
5. TikTok
6. Facebook Messenger
7. Snapchat
8. Twitter
9. Pinterest
10. Reddit

Below is a list of the top mobile apps globally by total downloads in 2022:

1. TikTok (including Douyin)
2. Facebook
3. Instagram
4. WhatsApp
5. Telegram
6. Zoom 
7. Snapchat
8. Facebook Messenger
9. Duolingo
10. Amazon

Below is a list of the top mobile apps globally by consumer spend in 2022:

1. TikTok 
2. YouTube
3. Tinder
4. Disney+
5. HBO Max
6. Tencent Video
7. Google One
8. Piccoma
9. iQiYi
10. QQ Music

Top websites by traffic in Australia.

1. Google.com
2. YouTube.com
3. Facebook.com
4.  Wikipedia.com
5. Twitter.com
6. abc.net.au
7. news.com.au
8. Instagram.com
9. Netflix.com
10. live.com
11. reddit.com
12. Ebay.com.au
13. office.com
14. realestate.com.au
15. yahoo.com
16. Too XXX to mention…
17. Bom.gov.au (gotta check that beach report!)
18. Too XXX to mention…
19. amazon.com.au
20. nine.com.au
21. 9news.com.au
22. Too XXX to mention…
23. linkedin.com
24. microsoftonline.com
25. commbank.com.au

The most common Google search queries in Australia in 2022.

1. Weather
2. News
3. Facebook
4. Google
5. YouTube
6. Bunnings
7. Kmart
8. BoM
9. Coles
10. Woolworths
11. ABC
12. NSW Covid
13. Real eastate
14. AFL
15. BIG W
16. MyGov
17. Netflix
18. BoM Radar
19. Ebay
20. NRL

Australia’s most popular social media platforms.

1. Facebook
2. Facebook Messenger
3. Instagram
4. WhatsApp
5. iMessage
6. Snapchat
7. TikTok
8. Twitter
9. Pinterest
10. LinkedIn
11. Reddit
12. Skype
13. Discord

Australia’s top social media apps by average time spent per user per month in 2022.

1. TikTok – 23.4 hours
2. Facebook – 17.6 hours
3. YouTube – 17.1 hours
4. Instagram – 8.3 hours
5. WhatsApp – 5.8 hours

Australia’s top video streaming apps by average time spent per user per month in 2022.

1. YouTube – 17.1 hours
2. Netflix – 5.3 hours
3. Stan – 3.4 hours
4. Twitch – 3.4 hours
5. Amazon Prime Video – 2.6 hours

• 22% of Australians use an image search tool.
• 23% of Australians watch video content on a TV by casting it from a mobile phone.
• 23% of Australians scan QR codes.
• 25% of Australians use their mobile phone as a ticket or boarding pass.
• 45% of Australians transfer money to friends or family with a mobile app.
• When it comes to online transactions, 74% of women and 77% of men make purchases.

Below is the percentage of Australian internet users between 16 – 64 who perform the following actions each month.

• Purchased a product or service online – 52.7%
• Ordered groceries online – 20.9%
• Bought a second-hand item via an online store – 13.1%
• Used an online price comparison service – 19.2%
• Used a buy now, pay later service – 13.2%

Below is the total spent by Australians on different E commerce categories.

• Electronics – $8.89 billion 
• Fashion – $9.65 billion 
• Furniture – $3.59 billion 
• Toys, DIY, Hobby – $4.52 billion 
• Personal and Household – $4.49 billion 
• Food – $3.66 billion 
• Beverage – $2.65 billion 
• Physical media – $817.8 million

How internet users in Australia aged 16 – 24 claim they are finding out about new brands.

1. Search engines – 42%
2. TV ads – 42%
3. Word-of-mouth – 38%
4. Social media ads – 26%
5. In-store displays – 25%
6. Product brochures – 24%
7. Brand or product websites – 24%
8. Ads on websites – 22%
9. TV shows or films – 22%
10. Direct mail or email – 18%