45 million users of social media platforms in the UAE and Saudi Arabia by 2024

Social media platforms have become vital communication tools for more than 4.6 billion people around the world, in addition to the growing influence of the platforms on the course of events, the exchange of experiences, the dissemination of news, and interaction with them. They have begun to form networks of cross-border relationships, turning them into an important source of income for millions of individuals and companies, and an expression of their trends. Consumers.
The Interregional Center for Strategic Analyzes, based in Abu Dhabi, confirmed in a recent research paper that it is difficult to imagine the current world without social media platforms, but the structural composition of these platforms and their importance may witness major changes and different scenarios during the coming years, ruling out the absence of these platforms during the coming period. It is also expected that these platforms will witness significant development and change in their currently existing structural and functional nature, to remain an important part of the global economic and media landscape.
The number of users of social media platforms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE will exceed 45 million users in 2024, with about 35.1 million users, or 95.3% of the total Internet users in the Kingdom, while the number will reach about 10.73 million users in the United Arab Emirates, or 112% of Total population, due to many residents having more than one account on these platforms.
In the UAE, WhatsApp was the most used, with 79.6% of platform users, followed by Tik Tok with 10.73 million users, Instagram: 7 million users, then X with about 3.05 million users.
The “Tik Tok, YouTube, and Snapchat” platforms are the most popular platforms in Saudi Arabia, while the “Tik Tok and Facebook” platforms in the Emirates lead the growth in the number of users, which reflects the heavy reliance on these platforms in the daily lives of the population in both countries.
The number of YouTube users in Saudi Arabia this year reached about 28.3 million users, Snapchat 22.6 million users, as a preferred choice for young people, then Instagram with 16.3 million users, XP with 16.8 million users, then Facebook with 14.6 million users. Trends in the UAE and Saudi Arabia during 2024 show a slight difference in the motives for using social media. In the UAE, social interaction was the main reason for use, then shopping and searching for products, then entertainment and educational content, then travel, adventures, fitness and music.
In Saudi Arabia, sharing personal moments and communicating with others are among the main reasons for using these platforms, followed by entertainment through broadcasting video content, especially on TikTok and YouTube, then marketing and advertisements, followed by the reason for following influencers, then following news, information, and community discussions.
In both countries, video and visual content are the most influential, which reflects the popularity of platforms that greatly support this content, such as: TikTok and YouTube, where the UAE stands out globally with a very high usage rate, while Saudi Arabia shows a noticeable preference for video platforms and visual content. “Interregional” indicated that the average individual’s use of social networking sites in the Emirates during 2024 has reached about two hours and 50 minutes per day, according to recent reports, which makes the country ranked first in the Arab world and 11th globally in terms of the duration of use of social networking sites daily, and “WhatsApp” is considered “Facebook” and “Instagram” are among the most used platforms in the country, with very high levels of Internet and smartphone penetration, with 97.6% of the population owning smartphones.
The average time spent by users in Saudi Arabia and in 2024 on social networking sites is about 3 hours and 10 minutes per day. This placed the Kingdom among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of the rate of daily use of social media platforms. These statistics show that Saudi users spend more time than the global average of 2 hours and 23 minutes per day. Interregional showed that the advertising market on social media sites witnessed remarkable growth in the Emirates and Saudi Arabia during 2024. In the Emirates, the value of spending on digital advertising in general, including social media sites, amounted to about 1.198 billion dirhams, while in Saudi Arabia, the size of the digital advertising market is estimated at A year, it is valued at approximately 7.5 to 11 billion riyals, making it one of the largest advertising markets in the region. These numbers reflect the major role that communication platforms play in broadcasting content, news, and information, as well as digital marketing, which indicates the expansion of the spread of these platforms and their gaining more followers as smart phones and the mobile Internet continue to spread in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.