How Many People Use Facebook in 2024? (Monthly Active Users)

Facebook is still the king of social media in 2024, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users worldwide. For marketers, understanding Facebook‘s massive reach and how different demographics engage on the platform is crucial for success.

In this in-depth guide, we‘ll explore key questions around Facebook monthly active users:

• How many people use Facebook daily and monthly?
• What are the age, gender, and location breakdowns of Facebook users?
• How is Facebook usage changing over time?
• When and how are people engaging on Facebook?
• What types of content works best on Facebook today?

Let‘s dive in!

How Many Active Monthly Facebook Users Are There in 2024?

As of February 2024, Facebook reported 2.96 billion monthly active users globally. This number has held steady over the past year, only increasing slightly from 2.91 billion in February 2022.

To put Facebook‘s size into perspective, if it were a country, it would be larger than the populations of China, India, and the United States combined.

Here‘s a breakdown of Facebook‘s monthly active users by region as of Q4 2022:

• Asia-Pacific: 1.29 billion
• Europe: 424 million
• US & Canada: 199 million
• Rest of World: 1.04 billion

India leads with the most Facebook users at 450 million, followed by Indonesia at 210 million. The US sits in third place with 190 million monthly users.

So while growth has stagnated in North America and Europe, Facebook is still expanding reach in developing global markets.

Who Uses Facebook in 2024? Demographic Breakdowns

Beyond sheer user numbers, it‘s important to understand Facebook‘s demographics to inform content and marketing strategies.

Age of Facebook Users

In the early days, Facebook was dominated by teens and college students. But over the years, older demographics have joined the platform in droves.

Here are some key stats on Facebook users by age group:

• 18-29 year olds: 69% use Facebook
• 30-49 year olds: 77%
• 50-64 year olds: 73%
• 65+ year olds: 50%

The 45-54 age bracket is now the most active on Facebook, spending an average of 44 minutes per day.

Still, 18-24 year olds spend the most time on Facebook at 51 minutes per day. They just represent a smaller portion of overall users.

Clearly, Facebook has mass appeal across age groups. But older users have generally been later adopters, so usage skews slightly younger.

Gender Breakdown of Facebook Users

Facebook has more male than female users worldwide – 56% vs 44% respectively.

However, women tend to be more active on the platform:

• Women engage with ads 14x per month on average vs 10x for men
• 77% of women are daily Facebook users compared to 61% of men
• Women also comment more, with an average of 7 comments per month vs 4 for men

So while reaching men is important, marketers may see better engagement metrics from the female user base.

Location of Facebook Users

As mentioned earlier, India and Indonesia are top countries for Facebook users by sheer numbers. But accounting for population size, North American and European nations have the highest Facebook penetration rates per capita.

For example, 88% of adults in Sweden use Facebook, followed by 81% in the Netherlands and 78% in Norway.

English remains the most popular language on Facebook, with 94% of users can access content in English. Spanish is second at 82%, then Portuguese at 78%.

This likely correlates to higher adoption rates in Western, English-speaking countries so far. However, Facebook‘s global growth initiatives aim to expand usage across new languages and regions in the future.

How Is Facebook Usage Changing Over Time?

Facebook‘s meteoric growth has slowed in recent years, especially amongst younger demographics in the US.

Pew Research studies show that since 2015:

• Facebook usage among 18-24 year olds dropped from 88% to 81%
• For 25-29 year olds, it declined from 87% to 78%

Meanwhile, competing platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok gained ground with these age groups.

However, Facebook remains as popular as ever among older demographics. For the 30-49 age bracket, usage has stayed steady at around 80% since 2015.

Globally, Facebook growth is being driven by developing countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. So while engagement may be declining amongst Western youth, the overall trajectory continues upwards.

Facebook‘s own internal research suggests usage has likely peaked in its most saturated markets. But there‘s still room for billions more potential users worldwide.

The next billion Facebook users probably won‘t look like the first billion. They‘ll be more diverse across age, language and geography. So the future of Facebook depends on adapting to these evolving demographics.

When Do People Use Facebook Most?

Understanding when people engage on Facebook can inform the ideal timing for posting content. Here are some key insights:

• Weekdays from 9AM-3PM see heaviest Facebook traffic, especially Wednesdays.
• Monday to Thursday are the biggest days for engagement. Weekend usage declines.
• Mid-morning and lunch hours (9AM-1PM) have peak posting times.
• Evenings after 8PM see much lower engagement levels.

In general, daytime and weekday usage dominates on Facebook. Usage during working hours indicates people scrolling during breaks or downtime.

The late morning also often coincides with browsing on phones during commutes or running errands.

For advertisers, Facebook notes that clickthrough rates tend to be 15% higher on weekdays compared to weekends.

How Do People Engage on Facebook?

Facebook offers a vast range of ways for people to engage – from scrolling the News Feed, commenting on posts, joining Groups, to live streaming video.

Here are some noteworthy engagement stats:

• The average user spends 39 minutes actively using Facebook per day
• Each person likes around 4 posts per day on average
• Users create around 90 pieces of content monthly (posts, comments, likes etc.)
• More than 200 million users belong to meaningful Groups centered around hobbies, causes or communities
• 500 million+ people use Facebook Watch for video content daily
• There are over 8 million monthly active admins/creators of Facebook Pages

Clearly, passive News Feed scrolling still dominates. But active interactions through commenting, posting, and Groups are also massively popular on Facebook.

Video engagement is also growing quickly, especially via Facebook Live broadcasts. Users are increasingly looking beyond just consuming content to also interacting and creating their own.

What Types of Content Perform Best on Facebook?

With so many ways to engage people, what content should you create for Facebook marketing? Here are some top performing content formats:

Video

Video gets the most organic reach on Facebook. They especially recommend native video up to 4 minutes long. Live video can also help boost engagement through real-time interaction.

Images

Photos drive the most overall engagement on Facebook, garnering more likes and comments than other post types. High quality, eye-catching images are essential.

Short-form Text

Long text posts can overwhelm readers on Facebook‘s scrolling feed. Bite-sized content with strong visuals and scannable formatting works best.

Infographics

Visual storytelling in the form of data charts, stats and graphics can quickly convey insights. Infographics get more shares than text-heavy analysis.

Behind-the-Scenes

Showing personality and behind-the-scenes glimpses resonates with Facebook audiences. Let fans feel like insiders with exclusive sneak peeks.

Live Video Streaming

Streaming video has quickly grown into a top Facebook feature. Live Q&As, product demos, events, and tutorials bring instant engagement.

User-Generated Content

Leverage fans by featuring their content – reviews, photos, testimonials etc. UGC feels more authentic and gets higher engagement.

Experiment with these content formats to see what best resonates with your target audiences on Facebook. The platform offers unparalleled reach – make the most of it by crafting content that informs and delights people.

The Future of Facebook: What‘s Next?

While Facebook‘s growth is slowing, it remains an indispensable platform for brands thanks to its sheer audience size and engaged community.

But Facebook can‘t rest on its laurels. Younger demographics are flocking to emerging platforms like TikTok. And alternative social apps like Telegram and Discord pose competition.

To maintain dominance, Facebook is pivoting hard to the metaverse with massive R&D investments. They aim to pioneer the next evolution of social connection through immersive digital worlds.

Facebook is also expanding ecommerce tools for businesses and creators to monetize through online shops, live shopping events, and integrated payments.

And we‘ll likely see a continued push into developing global markets to reach the next billion users in places like Africa and South Asia.

The Facebook of the future may look radically different. But for now, it retains its social media crown – and shows no signs of vanishing.

Key Takeaways on Facebook Monthly Active Users

To wrap up, here are the key stats to know about Facebook‘s monthly active users in 2024:

• 2.96 billion global monthly active users
• Most popular among 25-34 year olds
• 56% male vs 44% female
• Highest usage on weekdays during working hours
• Video content driving fastest growing engagement
• Strong growth still ahead in developing countries

For marketers, Facebook remains a must-buy channel thanks to its immense reach across demographics. Tailor content, messaging and creative to what works for your target audiences on Facebook today.

The platform keeps evolving in new directions. But Facebook still offers unparalleled scale to engage almost 3 billion people worldwide – a marketer‘s dream!

What are your biggest takeaways on Facebook usage and performance today? How will you leverage these insights to connect with more people and drive results? The opportunities to reach audiences and grow brands on Facebook remain enormous.

Facebook Investor Relations, Backlinko, Oberlo, Statista, Pew Research Center, eMarketer, Sprout Social, We Are Social