As shown in the chart in the Worldwide section, South Africa ranks No. 3, Nigeria No. 4, Egypt No. 7, the UAE No. 9 and Saudi Arabia No. 10. Facebook Is Widely Used by Social Network Users in the Middle East and Africa. Facebook has extraordinarily high penetration among social network users in the Middle East and Africa, at 96.2% in 2019.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Saudi Arabia, for example, Snapchat is particularly popular. More Than a ‘Middling’ Market. Snapchat will see relatively strong growth in user numbers in the Middle East and Africa in 2019 (16.0%). This is above the global rate of 14.3%. Penetration in the region is also above average.

The more developed countries within the Gulf Cooperation Council—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—are likely to have much stronger Instagram usage rates than those in northern and particularly sub-Saharan Africa. This same trend is reflected across nearly every digital and social media trend in the region.

The United Arab Emirates was the only country where TV penetration fell below 80% this year. In Vietnam and India, too, fewer than 85% of internet users said they watched TV. Digital media arrived relatively late to these markets, however—so it’s somewhat surprising that the leading traditional medium also posted below-average figures.

Four of Facebook’s top five growth markets—Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates—are located in the region. The rest of Facebook’s 10 fastest-growing markets are also developing countries: India, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines and South Africa. Developed countries in Europe will experience slower growth.