There are abundant statistics regarding the amount of people currently using the social networking website created by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). Whether they be regarding country, gender, popularity of certain brands or public figures, anyone willing to comb through the data can learn more about Facebook in just a few clicks. However, for some reasons it is relatively hard to find up-to-date information on the top 10 cities with most users.
Thanks to information provided by Socialbakers, a firm devoted to monitoring social networks and compiling data on them, this information can be revealed. Although the numbers are already two years old, there is much reason to believe that they remain constant. The first reason is that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) deletes accounts on a regular basis: duplicate, fake or otherwise undesirable accounts. According to the company’s 10-K filing from early 2014, the amount of fake users currently registered ranges from 5.5% to 11.2%. Thus, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) regularly undertakes massive account deletes, in order to clean up the social network a couple of million users at a time.
Another reason why the use of Facebook, according to each city, does not vary much on a year-to-year basis is population and internet penetration. Unlike whole nations, which might experience boosts in social media popularity thanks to a better Internet penetration in rural areas, urban centers already boast the largest number of users. There are exceptions, such as Jakarta, Sao Paolo, Mexico City or Mumbai, where the penetration of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s social media platform does not reach the 30% mark. Yet in most cities where the social network is popular, more than 60% of the population are active users of the website. Considering some small variations in demographics in cities and the high level of penetration, large variations should not be expected on a year-to-year basis.
After taking these arguments into consideration, let’s take a look at the top 10 cities with the most Facebook users. The ranking is led by Bangkok, which is considered by some the global social media capital of the world, with its 8.6 million users out of 10 million inhabitants. Runner-up Jakarta boasts 7.4 million, while Istanbul comes in third with 7 million registered accounts. The only European capital in the top 10 is London, coming in fourth, with 6.1 million users, and almost tied with Bogota, which has approximately the same amount.
With 5.7 million accounts, Sao Paolo is next on the list, and might even have outranked both Bogota and London, as it is one of the cities with more room for growth. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s website has become increasingly popular in Brazil, and the penetration rate in Sao Paolo was below 30% in 2012. Either way, next on the list are Mexico City and Santiago, with 4.2 million and 4.1 million users respectively. Mumbai, the only Indian city to make the top 10, boasts 3.7 million registered accounts, and it’s followed closely by Buenos Aires with 3.5 million users. Overall the trend is clear: most of the top 10 cities with most Facebook users are located in Asia and South America, where the largest urban centers are located.
Disclosure: Pablo Erbar holds no position in any stocks or funds mentioned.
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