It has been reported that Facebook (NASDAQ:$FB) has topped 2 billion users, and it now looks like India will be the source of its next billion.
This should not come as a surprise since the country has been a growing market for the social media network for quite some time. In fact, based on new data reports, Facebook now has 241 million active users in India, which is a million more users than it has in the United States – making India the country with its largest user base for the first time. Additionally, the report mentioned that active users in India have jumped 27% during the last six months compared to 12% in the United States.
Even though Facebook is enjoying the double-digit growth in India, social media penetration in the country is still less compared to other countries, thus representing a massive opportunity for Facebook. According to the report, 19% of India’s population uses Facebook compared to 73% in the United States. The average use around the globe is 42%.
Towards the end of June, Facebook disclosed that it has more than 2 billion users who use the network at least once a month. However, that growth comes with a price. In order to acquire the next billion, Facebook will need to grow in markets including those that it is blocked in, such as China. Despite Facebook being an undisputed leader around the world, there are still 15% of people that don’t have access to the internet or Facebook. Plus, there are 3 billion people using the internet in the world, around 700 million of them are in China, which is a country Facebook has been shut out of since 2009.
Overall, India has the ability to help Facebook reach the 3 billion mark given the glowing projections for its future in the country. In 2017 alone, eMarketer predicts that 182.9 million people will access Facebook on a regular basis. To put that into perspective, that number amounts to 69.9% of social network users in the country and 46.6% of Internet users. Additionally, that is thought to increase to 70.1% by the year 2021.
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