Social media networks have connected people to each other in new ways, but while bringing the world closer, there are still vast differences in the popularity of social networks.
In this State of the Mobile Web report, we take a closer look at five of the biggest names in social media globally and the number of Opera Mini users who visit them. By using anonymous and aggregated data from the servers of the Opera Mini mobile web browser, a browser that compresses all data traffic on the fly, we were able to build a picture of social media usage in more than 190 countries.
Most countries have one extremely dominant social network, but the statistics show some interesting findings in certain countries where the social-network diversity is somewhat more significant.
One such country is the innovative and high-tech Estonia, where the diversity of social networks is remarkable compared to most other countries. Estonia has a high representation of both Facebook and Twitter, as well as more regional networks such as Odnoklassniki and VKontakte. Other countries such as Israel and Latvia also show a more diversified distribution of visits to different social networks.
It’s no surprise that Facebook tops the list of most popular social networks globally, with 50.6 percent of Opera Mini’s 194 million users visiting Facebook at least once during the month of October. However, there are significant differences in the usage of different social networks globally. In each country surveyed, one network usually is on top with a large majority of users. Other social networks usually get minor parts of the user base.
The top-ranking Facebook territory, in terms of the percentage of Opera Mini users who visit per month, is surprisingly Macau, where more than 90% of all Opera Mini users visit Facebook at least once per month. In the Twitter top list of visitors, Paraguay takes the lead ahead of Japan.
| Country | Odnoklassniki | VKontakt | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 56,76 | 1,31 | 0,39 | 4,12 | 0 |
| Albania | 83,02 | 0,12 | 0,23 | 4,06 | 0 |
| Algeria | 43,68 | 0,06 | 0,34 | 4,59 | 0 |
| Andorra | 37,82 | 0,24 | 0 | 4,90 | 0 |
| Angola | 69,20 | 0,02 | 0,07 | 5,48 | 0 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 55,74 | 0 | 0 | 9,94 | 0 |
| Argentina | 68,76 | 0,01 | 0,13 | 11,23 | 0 |
| Armenia | 17,57 | 82,57 | 9,55 | 1,07 | 0 |
| Aruba | 33,22 | 0 | 0 | 4,94 | 0 |
| Australia | 61,03 | 0,06 | 0,15 | 4,13 | 0,05 |
| Austria | 34,11 | 1,27 | 1,30 | 2,36 | 0 |
| Azerbaijan | 48,67 | 38,75 | 10,17 | 4,62 | 0 |
| Bahamas | 51,15 | 0 | 0 | 13,06 | 0 |
| Bahrain | 33,39 | 0,24 | 0,33 | 6,84 | 0 |
| Bangladesh | 67,43 | 0,01 | 0,08 | 3,73 | 0 |
| Barbados | 54,06 | 0 | 0 | 6,79 | 0 |
| Belarus | 10,05 | 30,11 | 68,27 | 3,67 | 0 |
| Belgium | 46,07 | 1,27 | 0,70 | 4,08 | 0 |
| Benin | 71,00 | 0 | 0 | 5,32 | 0 |
| Bhutan | 77,20 | 0 | 0 | 4,19 | 0 |
| Bolivia | 63,10 | 0 | 0 | 5,85 | 0 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 66,56 | 0 | 0,19 | 2,72 | 0 |
| Botswana | 78,03 | 0 | 0 | 11,10 | 0 |
| Brazil | 60,28 | 0 | 0,10 | 11,96 | 0 |
| Brunei | 82,23 | 0 | 0 | 12,40 | 0,01 |
| Bulgaria | 54,58 | 0,40 | 0,86 | 2,16 | 0 |
| Burkina Faso | 61,06 | 0 | 0 | 4,81 | 0 |
| Burundi | 82,01 | 0 | 0,04 | 6,30 | 0 |
| Cambodia | 66,20 | 0,07 | 0,21 | 4,59 | 0 |
| Cameroon | 72,37 | 0 | 0 | 6,61 | 0 |
| Canada | 39,21 | 0,15 | 0,29 | 6,79 | 0,04 |
| Chad | 75,11 | 0 | 0 | 9,81 | 0 |
| Chile | 61,80 | 0,01 | 0,17 | 9,05 | 0 |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6,00 |
| Colombia | 59,39 | 0 | 0,14 | 11,90 | 0 |
| Congo | 64,95 | 0 | 0 | 4,34 | 0 |
| Congo (Democratic Republic) | 71,15 | 0,03 | 0,09 | 6,00 | 0 |
| Costa Rica | 77,64 | 0 | 0,13 | 5,33 | 0 |
| Croatia | 66,80 | 0,06 | 0,33 | 3,41 | 0 |
| Cuba | 37,44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cyprus | 48,90 | 3,54 | 4,91 | 3,20 | 0 |
| Czech Republic | 43,65 | 1,20 | 2,26 | 2,34 | 0 |
| Denmark | 26,09 | 0,46 | 0,01 | 2,01 | 0 |
| Djibouti | 59,36 | 0 | 0 | 5,89 | 0 |
| Dominican Republic | 58,67 | 0,13 | 0,33 | 10,81 | 0 |
| East Timor | 75,06 | 0 | 0 | 8,47 | 0 |
| Ecuador | 66,84 | 0 | 0,14 | 11,08 | 0 |
| Egypt | 60,87 | 0,20 | 0,42 | 5,92 | 0 |
| El Salvador | 79,26 | 0 | 0 | 12,03 | 0 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 69,80 | 0 | 0,17 | 6,41 | 0 |
| Estonia | 32,83 | 7,88 | 18,05 | 5,70 | 0 |
| Ethiopia | 75,99 | 0,02 | 0,12 | 6,67 | 0 |
| Fiji | 65,86 | 0 | 0 | 4,55 | 0 |
| Finland | 35,50 | 0,31 | 1,73 | 3,73 | 0 |
| France | 34,37 | 0,62 | 0,63 | 4,38 | 0 |
| French Guiana | 62,71 | 0 | 0 | 2,45 | 0 |
| Gabon | 74,89 | 0 | 0,06 | 5,15 | 0 |
| Gambia | 70,12 | 0 | 0 | 7,70 | 0 |
| Georgia | 23,14 | 79,43 | 4,79 | 1,48 | 0 |
| Germany | 33,06 | 1,22 | 0,82 | 2,91 | 0 |
| Ghana | 71,26 | 0,01 | 0,08 | 8,67 | 0 |
| Gibraltar | 51,03 | 0 | 0 | 5,84 | 0 |
| Greece | 55,53 | 2,09 | 1,24 | 5,30 | 0 |
| Greenland | 86,65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guadeloupe | 56,47 | 0 | 0 | 5,09 | 0 |
| Guam | 59,35 | 0 | 0 | 4,71 | 0 |
| Guatemala | 74,86 | 0 | 0,09 | 10,63 | 0 |
| Guernsey | 59,61 | 0 | 0 | 4,84 | 0 |
| Guinea | 55,67 | 0 | 0,06 | 6,97 | 0 |
| Guyana | 62,53 | 0 | 0 | 4,59 | 0 |
| Haiti | 79,65 | 0 | 0 | 9,95 | 0 |
| Honduras | 70,63 | 0 | 0 | 8,61 | 0 |
| Hong Kong SAR China | 65,09 | 0,07 | 0,18 | 4,47 | 0,49 |
| Hungary | 66,64 | 0,06 | 0,28 | 3,24 | 0 |
| Iceland | 45,39 | 0,15 | 0,39 | 2,84 | 0 |
| India | 57,78 | 0,01 | 0,09 | 4,32 | 0 |
| Indonesia | 75,92 | 0,01 | 0,15 | 12,96 | 0,02 |
| Iran | 57,57 | 0,05 | 0,28 | 3,87 | 0 |
| Iraq | 39,74 | 0,07 | 0,17 | 5,09 | 0 |
| Ireland | 48,33 | 0,25 | 0 | 9,28 | 0 |
| Isle of Man | 40,08 | 0 | 0 | 7,03 | 0 |
| Israel | 37,50 | 5,32 | 4,81 | 2,69 | 0 |
| Italy | 49,71 | 0,88 | 0,89 | 4,46 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 56,98 | 0 | 0 | 4,94 | 0 |
| Jamaica | 55,53 | 0 | 0 | 6,63 | 0 |
| Japan | 12,41 | 0,05 | 0,06 | 14,94 | 0 |
| Jersey | 35,66 | 0,49 | 0 | 5,50 | 0 |
| Jordan | 70,51 | 0,10 | 0,19 | 6,65 | 0 |
| Kazakhstan | 6,21 | 12,00 | 14,91 | 1,59 | 0 |
| Kenya | 71,08 | 0 | 0,05 | 12,02 | 0 |
| Kuwait | 34,41 | 0,20 | 0,37 | 6,24 | 0 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 9,33 | 41,59 | 8,66 | 1,76 | 0 |
| Laos | 71,39 | 0 | 0,13 | 5,47 | 0 |
| Latvia | 21,01 | 5,66 | 5,09 | 9,46 | 0 |
| Lebanon | 59,63 | 0,20 | 0,32 | 6,34 | 0 |
| Lesotho | 75,10 | 0 | 0 | 6,12 | 0 |
| Liberia | 53,33 | 0,27 | 0,25 | 7,32 | 0 |
| Libya | 53,12 | 0,02 | 0,10 | 5,68 | 0 |
| Lithuania | 36,75 | 1,66 | 3,50 | 3,16 | 0 |
| Luxembourg | 31,73 | 0,13 | 0,99 | 2,71 | 0 |
| Macau SAR China | 90,59 | 0,28 | 0 | 2,68 | 0 |
| Macedonia | 68,95 | 0,06 | 0,35 | 3,83 | 0 |
| Madagascar | 72,34 | 0,05 | 0 | 4,25 | 0 |
| Malawi | 84,48 | 0 | 0,05 | 10,36 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 77,50 | 0,07 | 0,21 | 8,59 | 0,24 |
| Maldives | 51,03 | 0,26 | 0 | 7,82 | 0 |
| Mali | 62,19 | 0,18 | 0 | 8,45 | 0 |
| Malta | 54,70 | 0 | 1,37 | 4,23 | 0 |
| Martinique | 49,42 | 0 | 0 | 3,49 | 0 |
| Mauritania | 50,10 | 0 | 0 | 8,94 | 0 |
| Mauritius | 69,69 | 0 | 0,11 | 3,75 | 0 |
| Mayotte | 64,47 | 0 | 0 | 3,64 | 0 |
| Mexico | 75,47 | 0,01 | 0,09 | 7,62 | 0 |
| Micronesia | 70,42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Moldova | 8,70 | 82,29 | 10,14 | 1,07 | 0 |
| Monaco | 87,79 | 0 | 0,04 | 2,26 | 0 |
| Mongolia | 43,59 | 0,32 | 0,98 | 3,63 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 67,65 | 0,32 | 0,95 | 4,29 | 0 |
| Morocco | 63,54 | 0,09 | 0,38 | 5,77 | 0 |
| Mozambique | 76,32 | 0 | 0,10 | 9,47 | 0 |
| Myanmar | 52,05 | 0 | 0 | 5,61 | 0 |
| Namibia | 80,88 | 0,01 | 0,07 | 6,85 | 0 |
| Nepal | 82,81 | 0,01 | 0,05 | 2,99 | 0 |
| Netherlands | 27,16 | 0,33 | 0,53 | 11,07 | 0 |
| Netherlands Antilles | 40,35 | 0 | 0 | 5,86 | 0 |
| New Caledonia | 69,97 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 58,76 | 0 | 0,24 | 4,91 | 0 |
| Nicaragua | 76,90 | 0 | 0,05 | 4,09 | 0 |
| Niger | 64,73 | 0 | 0 | 4,93 | 0 |
| Nigeria | 62,71 | 0,01 | 0,05 | 6,55 | 0 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 45,05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norway | 24,45 | 0,52 | 0,99 | 3,42 | 0 |
| Oman | 23,38 | 0 | 0 | 3,70 | 0 |
| Pakistan | 54,05 | 0,05 | 0,21 | 7,06 | 0 |
| Palestinian Territory | 62,20 | 0,05 | 0,17 | 3,29 | 0 |
| Panama | 55,46 | 0 | 0 | 10,36 | 0 |
| Papua New Guinea | 76,67 | 0 | 0,06 | 4,87 | 0 |
| Paraguay | 74,47 | 0 | 0,09 | 15,75 | 0 |
| Peru | 70,86 | 0,01 | 0,06 | 4,74 | 0 |
| Philippines | 78,47 | 0,02 | 0,08 | 11,24 | 0 |
| Poland | 38,05 | 0,57 | 1,36 | 1,75 | 0 |
| Portugal | 48,58 | 0,60 | 0,75 | 3,80 | 0 |
| Puerto Rico | 56,37 | 0 | 0 | 6,51 | 0 |
| Qatar | 60,06 | 0,08 | 0,22 | 5,69 | 0 |
| Reunion | 69,54 | 0 | 0 | 3,79 | 0 |
| Romania | 50,64 | 0,38 | 0,15 | 2,30 | 0 |
| Russia | 7,07 | 48,81 | 44,74 | 2,39 | 0 |
| Rwanda | 68,68 | 0,07 | 0,02 | 6,73 | 0 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 35,91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Lucia | 42,24 | 0 | 0 | 7,76 | 0 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 47,87 | 0 | 0 | 8,85 | 0 |
| Samoa | 87,98 | 0 | 0 | 5,35 | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 25,03 | 0,61 | 0,58 | 5,42 | 0 |
| Senegal | 61,50 | 0,01 | 0 | 7,15 | 0 |
| Serbia | 62,24 | 0,06 | 0,34 | 4,31 | 0 |
| Seychelles | 56,55 | 0 | 0,06 | 3,74 | 0 |
| Sierra Leone | 68,78 | 0,08 | 0,37 | 7,96 | 0 |
| Singapore | 61,06 | 0,09 | 0 | 7,91 | 0,19 |
| Slovakia | 47,81 | 0,09 | 0,49 | 2,04 | 0 |
| Slovenia | 50,08 | 0,14 | 0,33 | 3,20 | 0 |
| Solomon Islands | 65,72 | 0 | 0 | 4,44 | 0 |
| Somalia | 54,13 | 0 | 0 | 5,13 | 0 |
| South Africa | 61,26 | 0 | 0,03 | 6,82 | 0 |
| South Korea | 15,14 | 0 | 1,22 | 3,19 | 0 |
| Spain | 72,28 | 0,37 | 0,82 | 12,59 | 0,01 |
| Sri Lanka | 61,93 | 0,02 | 0,17 | 5,11 | 0 |
| Sudan | 75,11 | 0,01 | 0,09 | 8,47 | 0 |
| Suriname | 61,30 | 0 | 0 | 7,43 | 0 |
| Swaziland | 86,03 | 0 | 0 | 5,08 | 0 |
| Sweden | 27,58 | 1,72 | 1,38 | 3,87 | 0 |
| Switzerland | 27,60 | 0,33 | 0,81 | 3,77 | 0 |
| Syria | 72,71 | 0 | 0,04 | 6,06 | 0 |
| Taiwan | 49,07 | 0,02 | 0 | 2,26 | 0,67 |
| Tajikistan | 9,98 | 62,33 | 11,49 | 1,73 | 0 |
| Tanzania | 67,96 | 0 | 0,08 | 10,51 | 0 |
| Thailand | 60,10 | 0,14 | 0,25 | 4,75 | 0,01 |
| Togo | 65,21 | 0 | 0 | 4,95 | 0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 48,50 | 0 | 0 | 5,71 | 0 |
| Tunisia | 70,22 | 0 | 0,96 | 6,19 | 0 |
| Turkey | 67,69 | 0,82 | 0,74 | 13,29 | 0 |
| Turkmenistan | 9,88 | 28,83 | 11,30 | 2,83 | 0 |
| Uganda | 65,33 | 0 | 0,07 | 10,54 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 8,88 | 19,91 | 70,96 | 2,72 | 0 |
| United Arab Emirates | 62,51 | 0,38 | 0,66 | 6,43 | 0 |
| United Kingdom | 48,49 | 0,33 | 0,41 | 9,77 | 0,01 |
| United States | 49,54 | 0,17 | 0,25 | 9,34 | 0,03 |
| Uruguay | 76,31 | 0,02 | 0 | 5,78 | 0 |
| Uzbekistan | 7,58 | 75,11 | 5,81 | 1,47 | 0 |
| Venezuela | 56,97 | 0,02 | 0,07 | 13,96 | 0 |
| Vietnam | 54,10 | 0,02 | 0,04 | 1,18 | 0,02 |
| Yemen | 52,06 | 0,09 | 0,22 | 7,57 | 0 |
| Zambia | 80,29 | 0,02 | 0,09 | 8,65 | 0 |
| Zimbabwe | 85,05 | 0 | 0,04 | 8,06 | 0 |
In terms of total user numbers, and not only percentage of users, Asian countries are on top of the list for Facebook (Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Mexico, Vietnam, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia, Turkey). The top country list for Twitter is remarkably similar: Indonesia on top, followed by India, Nigeria, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Kenya and the Philippines.
Facebook and Twitter, are the only social networks with true global representation. For Odnoklassniki, Russia and other CIS countries make up the top lists, both percentage-wise and in raw usage numbers. For Odnoklassniki, the top-ten countries, based on unique users, are: Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan.
The popularity of Odnoklassniki and vKontakte is inversely proportional to Facebook and Twitter, making these countries a challenge for social networks originated in the USA. The same goes for China, where the usage of social networks does not follow the same patterns as other countries. Inside China, the Chinese social networks are dominant, but outside they are practically non-existent in the Opera Mini domain lists.
For this statistic, we looked at the domains visited at least once per month (e.g., vk.com or twitter.com) and counted the number of unique users from this data, as compared to the total amount of users that month.
Since the April 2012 State of the Mobile Web report, Opera Software has reported the unique-user numbers for both the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers. Read more about this change.
In October 2012, the consumer base of the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers increased in unique users. In all, more than 215 million people used Opera Mini or Opera Mobile in October. The Opera Mini servers (which do not process pages from Opera Mobile browsers) served 126 billion pages and compressed over 11 petabytes of data for Opera Mini users. More than 26% of the total users of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile are using smartphones to browse the web.
In October 2012, there were over 215 million Opera Mini and Opera Mobile users. Out of this number, more than 21 million were Opera Mobile users, and the rest were Opera Mini users. Compared to October 2011, Opera Mini and Opera Mobile combined grew more than 33% year over year.
| Month | Opera Mini | Total users |
|---|---|---|
| October 2012 | 194,028,420 | 215,404,124 |
| September 2012 | 187,528,635 | 207,194,837 |
| August 2012 | 190,999,377 | 209,908,472 |
| July 2012 | 187,147,324 | 205,770,416 |
| June 2012 | 182,464,716 | 200,350,248 |
| May 2012 | 178,525,801 | 196,186,735 |
| April 2012 | 165,516,827 | 189,631,504 |
| March 2012 | 168,844,460 | 193,009,533 |
| February 2012 | 160,016,472 | 183,714,665 |
| January 2012 | 159,033,038 | 182,787,117 |
| December 2011 | 152,651,224 | 175,940,168 |
| November 2011 | 144,601,830 | 166,574,676 |
| October 2011 | 140,001,098 | 161,863,689 |
| September 2011 | 131,319,238 | 153,031,280 |
| August 2011 | 128,004,536 | 149,726,810 |
| July 2011 | 121,789,463 | 143,247,132 |
| June 2011 | 115,058,129 | 136,220,211 |
| May 2011 | 113,511,756 | 134,760,861 |
| April 2011 | 107,159,911 | 128,275,809 |
| March 2011 | 102,488,824 | 123,389,860 |
| February 2011 | 89,813,250 | 110,370,647 |
| January 2011 | 90,368,678 | 111,009,722 |
| December 2010 | 85,540,776 | 105,882,284 |
| November 2010 | 80,059,737 | 98,259,922 |
Opera Mini users viewed over 126 billion pages in October 2012. Since October 2011, page views have increased by more than 47%.
| Month | Page views |
|---|---|
| October 2012 | 126,783,439,403 |
| September 2012 | 116,255,078,302 |
| August 2012 | 122,366,916,411 |
| July 2012 | 116,520,625,707 |
| June 2012 | 115,070,847,433 |
| May 2012 | 113,788,248,994 |
| April 2012 | 109,172,778,122 |
| March 2012 | 117,133,940,573 |
| February 2012 | 108,322,127,981 |
| January 2012 | 108,711,984,250 |
| December 2011 | 103,156,318,112 |
| November 2011 | 88,516,536,629 |
| October 2011 | 86,241,891,002 |
| September 2011 | 79,164,254,190 |
| August 2011 | 79,594,255,478 |
| July 2011 | 74,078,891,600 |
| June 2011 | 67,303,912,324 |
| May 2011 | 63,386,735,162 |
| April 2011 | 57,935,683,078 |
| March 2011 | 59,768,735,532 |
| February 2011 | 51,531,490,158 |
| January 2011 | 52,377,317,703 |
| December 2010 | 46,725,301,390 |
| November 2010 | 44,652,355,113 |
In October 2012, Opera Mini users generated over 2.4 billion MB of data for operators worldwide. Data in the Opera Mini browser is compressed by up to 90%. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed over 11 petabytes of data in October. Since October 2011, data traffic has risen by more than 62%.
| Month | Data transfer (MB) |
|---|---|
| October 2012 | 2,406,128,070 |
| September 2012 | 2,216,054,026 |
| August 2012 | 2,215,469,446 |
| July 2012 | 2,109,653,045 |
| June 2012 | 2,015,528,597 |
| May 2012 | 1,983,411,220 |
| April 2012 | 1,906,598,921 |
| March 2012 | 1,918,118,366 |
| February 2012 | 1,916,961,696 |
| January 2012 | 1,831,047,506 |
| December 2011 | 1,663,600,099 |
| November 2011 | 1,421,897,839 |
| October 2011 | 1,360,336,480 |
| September 2011 | 1,251,149,418 |
| August 2011 | 1,232,303,979 |
| July 2011 | 1,170,603,288 |
| June 2011 | 1,068,360,258 |
| May 2011 | 1,031,183,476 |
| April 2011 | 954,840,197 |
| March 2011 | 946,210,968 |
| February 2011 | 790,192,801 |
| January 2011 | 804,000,878 |
| December 2010 | 706,327,921 |
| November 2010 | 677,508,852 |
For more information about the State of the Mobile Web report, please contact Pål Unanue-Zahl palu[at]opera.com, +47 2369 2400.
Get updated each time we release a report.