Currently, social networks have around 4.9 billion users worldwide, but the user base of these platforms is expected to increase by 25% by 2028, to over 6 billion.

The data is provided by Marketeer, which cites the consulting firm Statista. According to the company's study, the growth of social media has been remarkable: since 2019, more than 1.3 billion people have created a social media account for the first time. This means that, in the space of just five years, the social media user base has grown from 3.5 billion to almost 4.9 billion globally, which translates into an average rate of 350 million new users per year.

According to Statista, social networks will continue to spread, but the pace of growth is likely to slow down.

According to the source, by the end of this year, around 304 million people are expected to join at least one social network, but in 2020, for example, this figure reached 395 million new users. In 2028, this figure is expected to fall to 183 million new users.

TikTok could be left behind

Although Facebook and TikTok are currently leading the way in terms of number of users, neither of them is likely to be the fastest-growing social network (in terms of number of users) over the next few years.

That honor, predicts Statista, will fall to Instagram, which could dethrone TikTok as the fastest growing social network.

According to the consultancy, Instagram should end this year with around 1.33 billion users worldwide, 86 million more than last year.

By 2027, this number is expected to rise to 1.56 billion users, which, if confirmed, will translate into an increase of 17.2%.

TikTok is expected to grow by 17% over the same period, reaching 2.2 billion users by 2027, while Facebook will be less vibrant (14%), but will continue to have the largest user base (3.1 billion users).  (Marketeer)