India Social Media Statistics 2021
15 November 2021
The Indian population has taken to social media like duck to water. Indians, on average, spend about 2.25 hours on social media daily. In India, the number of social media users have been growing in 2021 at a steady rate of 448 million due to the deep penetration of internet connectivity among people. The number of Internet users in India has grown to a whopping 624 million, which is roughly 45% of the total population of India. Now, social media has become one of the most essential parts of daily internet usage in India.
| Total population | 1.39 billion |
| Active social media users | 0.448 billion |
| Number of Internet users | 0.624 billion |
| Social Media Users via Mobiles | 0.444 billion |
| Number of Mobile Internet users | 0.572 billion |
Falling smartphone prices have driven the massive increase in the usage of mobile smartphones across India. The easy availability of super-fast internet at very low prices is another factor for a large-scale rise in the adoption of social media. The number of Mobile Internet users has reached 572 million out of which 444 million are social media users accessing through mobiles.
The YouTube, Whatsapp usage is due to the increased prevalence of fast internet connectivity. They keep offering unique user experiences to their customers is one of the reasons that it has surged past all other competitors and established a unique niche.
| PERCENTAGE | IN NUMBERS | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual growth in active social media users. | 31.2% | 78 million + |
| Annual growth of Internet users | 8.2% | 44 million + |
According to the statistics, the number of social media users began to rise, the annual growth in active social media users is 31.2% with more than 78 million new users added last year. With this different trends on social media in India are poised to grow. The annual growth of Internet users is 8.2% with another 44 million new users.
| Average daily time spent using Internet | 6 hours 36 mins |
| Average daily time spent using social Media | 2 hours 25 mins |
The average daily time spent using the Internet is 6 hours 36 mins of which 2 hours 25 mins of the daily time is spent using social media.
Top Social Media Platforms in India 2021
| PLATFORM | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|
| Youtube | 85.80% |
| 75.70% | |
| 70.60% | |
| 50.60% | |
| 37.70% | |
| 34.30% | |
| 22.10% |
In India, YouTube is the most used social media platform in 2021 with 85.80% of the social media users enrolled. After the US, India is the second-biggest market for YouTube both in terms of views and subscribers. Along with YouTube, there are many YouTubers who have also become big.
79% of the users in India have profiles on Facebook and that makes it the second most popular platform. Among the commercial entities, the political class as well as the masses in India, Facebook is most favored and will remain a dominant force for many years to come. Facebook has been used by many top brands to engage with their fans.
Facebook platform faces stiff competition from Instagram which has 70.60% of social media users in India. A big percentage of Instagram’s users are young people, especially teenagers. Facebook, the parent company which paid $1 billion to buy Instagram. It has grown into a source of income for creators and a great sales channel for businesses.
A few other social media platforms that are popular in India are Twitter (50.6% penetration), LinkedIn (37.7% penetration), Pinterest (34.3% penetration) and Reddit (22.1% penetration).
Popular Messenger Apps in India 2021
| MESSENGER APP | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|
| 74.60% | |
| Facebook Messenger | 55.00% |
| Snapchat | 33.70% |
| Tik Tok* (banned in India) | 31.50% |
| Skype | 29.30% |
| Telegram | 28.50% |
| Helo | 22.90% |
| Wechat* (banned in India) | 22.50% |
| Hike | 21.30% |
WhatsApp is the most popular messenger app in India. Facebook-owned WhatsApp has 79% of the country’s total users. The second most popular on the list is Facebook Messenger, with 62% penetration. The third is Snapchat, which is really popular among teenagers has 33.7% users. Forth in the list of 2021 social media chat apps is the recently banned Tik Tok with 31.5% users.
Few other messenger apps that are favored in India are Skype (29.3% penetration), Telegram (28.5% penetration), Helo (22.9% penetration), again recently banned Wechat (22.5% penetration) and Hike (21.3%).
Top 3 Devices in India
| DEVICE | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|
| Mobile Phone | 76.60% |
| Laptop & Desktop | 22.90% |
| Tablet | 0.50% |
In 2021, the most dominant device in India is the Mobile Phone with a share of 76.6%. Falling smartphone costs is one of the reasons for this boom. The next device on the list is Laptop & Desktop with 22.9% followed by tablet with 0.50%.
Popular Browser in India
| BROWSER | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|
| Chrome | 83.10% |
| Opera | 4.00% |
| Safari | 2.30% |
| Firefox | 1.70% |
| Samsung Internet | 1.70% |
| Microsoft Edge | 0.90% |
| Internet Explorer | 0.10% |
| Others | 6.20% |
Predictably Chrome is the most popular browser in India with a share percentage of 83. Opera is the distant second with 4% market share, followed by Safari(2.3%) and Firefox(1.70%).
Top Websites in India in 2021 (Alexa)
| Google.com |
| Youtube.com |
| Amazon.com |
| Google.co.in |
| Facebook.com |
According to Alexa, the top website in India is Google.com. Second, on the list is Youtube.com followed by Amazon.com, Google.co.in and Facebook.
Top Mobile Apps in India 2021
| APP NAME | PARENT COMPANY |
|---|---|
| Truecaller | Truecaller |
| Facebook Messenger | |
| Amazon | Amazon |
The top mobile apps in India are Whatsapp followed by Facebook, Truecaller, Facebook messenger and Amazon. Three of the five top mobile apps are owned by Facebook, Inc.
Internet & Mobile User Statistics 2021
| Total Population | 1.39 B |
| Active Internet Users | 0.624 B |
| Mobile Internet Users | 0.572 B |
| Average daily time spent using Internet | 6H 36M |
| Avg Daily Time Spent using Internet on Mobile Devices | 3H 45M |
Internet Connection Speed in India
| Avg Broadband Internet Speed | 53.90 Mbps |
| Avg Speed of Mobile Internet Connection | 12.91 Mbps |
The average broadband internet speed is 53.90 Mbps, which is a 28% increase when compared with previous year. The average speed of mobile internet connection is 12.91 Mbps. When compared to the previous year, there is a growth rate of 12.7%.
Mobile Connections in India
| Number of Mobile Connections | 1.1 B |
| Prepaid Connections | 0.91 B |
| Postpaid Connections | 0.19 B |
| Broadband Connections as Percentage of all Mobile Connections | 67.90% |
The number of mobile connections in India are 1.1 billion. The mobile connection as per the percentage of total population is 79%. There are about 0.91 billion prepaid connections which is about 82.6% of the total connection. The postpaid connection is much less with 0.19 billion. This is about 17.4% of the total connection. The broadband connections as percentage of all mobile connections is 67.90%.
| Hours spent using Mobile Phones | 650.7 Billion hours |
| Number of Mobile Apps Downloaded | 24.27 Billion |
650.7 Billion hours is the total hours spent using the mobile phone. The total number of mobile apps downloaded is 24.27 billion.
Most used Mobile Apps by Category in India
| MOBILE APPS | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|
| Chat Apps | 91.60% |
| Social Networking Apps | 89.50% |
| Entertainment & Video Apps | 75.00% |
| Shopping Apps | 72.20% |
| Maps Apps | 67.60% |
| Game Apps | 57.00% |
| Music Apps | 53.60% |
| Health Apps | 37.10% |
| Banking Apps | 32.30% |
The Chat apps are the most used mobile apps in India with around 91.6% of them using it. Next on the list is Social Networking Apps with usage of 89.50%. The Entertainment apps (75.00%) and shopping apps (72.20%) are equally used in India. Then comes the maps apps (67.60%) followed by game apps (57.00%), music apps (53.60%), health apps (37.10%), and banking apps (32.30%).
Top Mobile App by Number of Downloads in India
| MOBILE APPS | PARENT COMPANY |
|---|---|
| Facebook Inc. | |
| Facebook Inc. | |
| Snack Video | Onesmile |
| Facebook Inc. | |
| Tik Tok (currently banned in India) | ByteDance |
| Google Pay | |
| Zoom Cloud Meetings | Zoom |
| MX Player | Times Group |
| Google Meet | |
| Snapchat | Snap |
