Are you interested in the latest digital trends? Here’s a summary of the Digital 2023: Global Overview Report

We have analyzed the entire Digital 2023 report for you and extracted the most important highlights and data. These insights will be useful for both marketing professionals and anyone interested in what’s happening globally. The summary is divided into two sections: key facts and detailed numerical data.

Key Facts — Top 9 Highlights

Discover the most significant changes in user behavior on the internet over the past year.

Fact 1 – The global population has surpassed 8 billion people
According to the latest statistics, there are 8.009 billion people on Earth. In 2021, the figure was 7.942 billion, and in 2020, 7.725 billion.

Fact 2 – The number of internet users is also increasing
Over the past twelve months, the number of internet users grew by 98 million, bringing the total to 5.158 billion. The 5 billion milestone was crossed in 2021.

Fact 3 – Less time spent online
The amount of time spent online has dropped by nearly 5% (20 minutes) compared to the previous year, averaging 6 hours and 37 minutes per day. One theory explaining this phenomenon is that users are increasingly prioritizing quality over quantity, managing their time online more effectively by seeking and consuming only the content that is relevant and valuable to them.

Fact 4 – LinkedIn reaches a new milestone
The latest data on LinkedIn’s advertising reach shows that the world’s favorite professional social network now has over 900 million registered members! In January 2021, the figure was 720 million.

Fact 5 – More ad impressions on social media
Social media platforms also recorded a 57% increase in ad impressions compared to the last quarters of 2022 and 2021.

Fact 6 – YouTube is catching up with Google Search
According to Semrush, YouTube ranks second in global website traffic, with 5.85 billion unique users (UU) per month, surpassing Facebook, which is in third place with 2.48 billion.

Fact 7 – 30% of online ad spending goes to social media
In 2022, $667 billion was spent on online advertising, representing a 15.2% increase from the previous year ($88 billion). More than 30% of that total was spent on social media advertising.

Fact 8 – TikTok captures our attention
Users spend the most time each month on TikTok – 23 hours and 28 minutes (a 20% year-over-year increase). Instagram saw an increase of 46 minutes, with users now spending an average of 12 hours per month on the platform.

Fact 9 – Fashion and electronics lead e-commerce
Internet users spent the most money on fashion ($871 billion) and electronics ($765 billion). In total, $3.59 trillion was spent in e-commerce across all industries in 2022.

Detailed Data — A Collection of the Most Important Metrics

Did you know that more than 6 out of 10 people on Earth use the internet? Although there has been a slight slowdown in the growth of internet users (the highest was recorded in 2010), it is estimated that by the end of 2023, more than two-thirds of the global population will have access to the internet.

POPULATION

• 8.01 billion people (+0.8% YoY population growth, or 67 million)
• China and India account for 35.6% of the global population, while the USA represents 4.2%
• The average global age is 30.4 years
• 1.342 billion people are aged 0-9 years
• 793 million people are aged 65+
• Nearly 3 billion people are aged 20-44 years
• 5.44 billion unique mobile phone users
• 4.76 billion active social media users
  • +3.0% YoY growth in social media users (137 million)
  • +1.9% YoY growth in internet users (98 million)

INTERNET USAGE IN THE 16-64 AGE GROUP (DAILY)

• 6 hours 37 minutes – average daily time spent online
• 2 hours 31 minutes – average daily time spent on social media

INTERNET

• 5.16 billion internet users worldwide
  • For comparison, there were 3.977 billion users in 2019, 3.004 billion in 2015, and 1.908 billion in 2010
• 67.2% of men and 62.6% of women use the internet
• 92.3% of the population accesses the internet via mobile devices
• Countries with the highest percentage of people without internet access: Somalia 90.2%, Ethiopia 83%, India 51.3% (for comparison, in China, this figure is only 26.3%)
• The fastest mobile internet is in Qatar, the UAE, and Norway
• The slowest internet is in Belize, Yemen, and Syria
• 57.8% of people use the internet to seek information, 53.7% to stay connected with others, 50.9% to keep up with news and events, 49.7% to watch videos, and 47.6% to find how-to guides
• Only 25% of internet users use apps for sports and travel
• 65.86% of internet users use Chrome, while 18.67% use Safari
  • In 2015, only 47.9% of internet users used Chrome

SOCIAL MEDIA

• 4.76 billion people use social media
  • For comparison, there were 2.79 billion social media users in 2017
  • Social media users grew by 3% YoY (137 million)
• We spend an average of 2 hours and 31 minutes daily on social media; people in Japan spend the least time (51 minutes), while Poles spend 2 hours and 4 minutes
• The main reason for using social media is „staying in touch with friends”; for 36%, it’s a way to pass the time
• In Japan, people use an average of 3.5 social media platforms, while in Poland, the number is 6.3
• Pinterest and Reddit users are most often also active on LinkedIn
• Instagram is the favorite platform for people under 34

FACEBOOK

• Facebook is the favorite platform for people aged 35-44
• Facebook had 2.958 billion users in 2022; for comparison, it had 2.072 billion in 2017 and 1.007 billion in 2012
• The largest group on Facebook is men aged 25-34 – 17.6%

MOBILE

• 8.46 billion active mobile phones
• 15 GB – average monthly data usage per phone
• 72% of internet traffic comes from Android devices
• 23% of internet traffic comes from iOS devices

E-COMMERCE

• 57.6% of internet users make weekly online purchases
• Women aged 25-34 are the biggest shoppers, with 63% making weekly online purchases
• The biggest purchase incentives are free shipping (44%), coupons/discounts (37.9%), and positive user reviews (31.6%)
• 4.11 billion people made online purchases in 2022
• A total of $3.59 trillion was spent in e-commerce in 2022
• 1.85 billion people use food delivery platforms, an increase of 8.6% (146 million) compared to the previous year
• $361 billion was spent on air travel, $68 billion on train travel, and $269 billion on accommodations
• 1.28 billion people worldwide use fitness & wellbeing devices
• Paid content – the largest group paying monthly for content is men aged 25-34 – 80.7%
• 4.16 billion users make electronic payments, an 8.3% YoY increase (321 million)
• In Poland, 84% of the population aged 15+ uses debit cards

DIGITAL MARKETING

• 50.8% of people aged 16-64 search for information about a brand before making a purchase
• Generation Z (aged 16-24) mainly discovers new brands through social media ads – 28.4%
• Consumers primarily search for brand information through search engines (48.2%), social media (43.1%), and based on consumer reviews (36.3%)
• The most common interaction with a brand is visiting their website (43.1% of users) or watching a video prepared by the brand (23.7%)
• $667 billion was spent on online advertising in 2022, a 15.2% increase ($88 billion) from the previous year, accounting for 73.4% of all advertising spending (both online and offline)
  • In 2021, $579 billion was spent on online advertising, $435 billion in 2020, and $254 billion in 2017
  • Online advertising accounted for only 46.9% of total ad spending in 2017
• The most spending was on search engine ads ($260 billion), social media ads ($226 billion, the largest increase of 23.2%), video ads ($180 billion, a 20.1% increase), and display banners ($155 billion)
• $27.5 billion was spent on influencer campaigns (a 20.4% increase from 2021)
• 35.7% of people worldwide use ad blockers; the highest usage is in China (43.2%), while in Poland it is 36.2%

All data comes from the Digital 2023 Global Overview Report.