Social media remains an undeniable force in marketing — helping businesses connect with customers, build brand presence and drive real revenue. But with so many platforms and evolving user behaviours, knowing where to focus your energy matters more than ever.
Below is a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of social media statistics in 2025 and early 2026, including global figures and detailed Australian insights across major platforms.
The global social media landscape
As of early 2025, social media is truly global.
About 4.76 billion people use social media worldwide, representing over 59% of the global population. This number continues to climb as internet access expands.
Meta’s Instagram alone has reached around 3 billion monthly active users globally: a massive marker of how widespread social engagement is.
What this means: Your potential audience isn’t just local — it’s global. Even modest local penetration opens huge opportunity when scaled by these global trends.
Australian social media overview
Here’s a snapshot of our nation’s overall use:
21.0 million Australians were active social media users in late 2025, which is about 77.7% of the total population.
Among adults aged 18+, 87.0% were on at least one social platform.
Across all Australians, 80% of internet users engage with social media.
Social media penetration in Australia continues to grow — though it’s stabilising — meaning platforms have shifted from “emerging audiences” to “core daily habits”.
Top social platforms by reach
Here’s how Australian social media usage stacks up (ad audience / identity reach basis):
| Platform | Estimated Reach / Users |
|---|---|
| YouTube | 21 million users 🇦🇺 (ad reach 77.7% of population) |
| 17.7 million users 🇦🇺 | |
| 15.2 million users 🇦🇺 | |
| 18 million members 🇦🇺 (ads) | |
| TikTok (18+) | 10.9 million users 🇦🇺 |
| Snapchat | 8.2 million 🇦🇺 |
* These figures reflect ad-platform audience sizes, which are reliable proxies for active reach.
Facebook (Australia)
Facebook remains one of the most widely used platforms, reaching 78% of Australian users.
Monthly reach on Meta ad tools shows 17.7 million users in Australia.
Gender skew: slightly female-leaning in reach audiences.
Even though growth has slowed compared to TikTok or Instagram, Facebook’s sheer scale means strong visibility and ongoing retargeting value.
Instagram (Australia)
Instagram reaches 15.2 million Australians — making it one of the top visual platforms for engagement.
Females still make up a slight majority of the audience.
Globally, Instagram has crossed 3 billion monthly active users — showing its continued dominance as a social platform.
YouTube (Australia)
YouTube’s advertising reach in Australia is 21 million people (about 77.7% of the population).
It often ranks as one of the most visited platforms daily.
YouTube’s longer video format remains uniquely valuable for brands — driving brand awareness and considered purchase behaviour.
TikTok (Australia)
TikTok has 10.9 million users aged 18+ in Australia.
Globally, TikTok crosses 1 billion monthly active users, giving it massive influence beyond Australia.
TikTok especially wins at discovery and trend-based content, making it excellent for brand awareness and younger audiences.
Engagement and behaviour
While Australia’s exact daily engagement minutes vary by platform and source, multiple reports confirm high frequency of use. A strong majority of Australians aged 16+ use social platforms regularly — up to 94.5% of internet users recently reported visiting social media in a month.
This means consistent content and ad visibility will almost always find an audience.
Key takeaways for Australian businesses
1. Social media commands real reach
Almost 8 in 10 Australians are on social media — that’s a base audience no brand or business can ignore.
2. Meta platforms remain central
Facebook and Instagram continue to deliver major reach, especially for retargeting and deeper engagement.
3. Video is huge — especially YouTube and TikTok
Both platforms outperform static engagement, especially for awareness campaigns.
4. Know your audience by platform
Each demographic skews differently — so planning content by intent and behaviour is essential.
Bonus insight: Australia’s regulatory shift
Australia has become the first country to legally ban social media use for under-16s, effective December 2025. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and others must remove or block under-16 accounts — a historic shift in digital regulation.
This will impact youth behaviour statistics going forward and may shift how younger demographics engage overall.
But as we outlined in our article for Region Media in December 2025, the ban is essentially good news for businesses as it removes a big chunk of ‘unknown age’ accounts i.e. people businesses were never trying to reach in the first place.
Final thought
Statistics tell us who’s online and where, but what matters most is how you meet them there. Engagement, retention and conversion still come from relevant content and strategy, not just numbers.
Keen to refresh your social media marketing strategy for 2026? Let’s chat.
This article includes references from Meta, Social Media Examiner, Social Media College and Hootsuite, as well as FIBER’s own internal insights.
