UAE in 2020: A Year of Digital Growth



Socialize, in conjunction with We Are Social and Hootsuite, the world’s leader in social media management, today released their Digital 2020 report, examining social media and digital trends around the world.
Here is a look at the most significant data coming out of the UAE, giving us a first understanding at the possible trends, changes and behaviors that could shape the year ahead.

1 in 4 UAE resident is active on TikTok

Short form video app TikTok hit the global and regional press headlines this year, and has built a strong base of active users in the UAE, with 29% of internet users aged 16 to 64 in UAE stating they had used the platform in the last month.

Instagram is still the fastest growing platform in the UAE

Instagram saw the biggest growth in its advertising audience of the major social media platforms with +12%.

Snapchat also saw strong growth with +9.3%, and Facebook’s ad audience increased by +5.2%. However, not all platforms performed so well; LinkedIn saw a drop of -2.3% and Twitter was down by -0.5%.

The most widely used social platform is YouTube

Amongst internet users aged 16 to 64, more people in UAE report using YouTube than any other platform, with 88% of internet users aged 16 to 64 stating the used it in the last month. Facebook and WhatsApp follow with 79% each.