An average of 13 new users started to use social media for the first time every second during the last 13 months.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

More than 65% of the world’s population now uses a mobile phone, with global users increasing by nearly 100 million in the past year, according to data by research firm We Are Social.

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Global mobile phone users reached 5.29 billion in October, the firm noted in a report titled ‘Digital 2021: October Global Snapshot”. The report looked at internet, mobile and social media adoption around the world.

However, less than half of India’s population has access to the internet, much lesser than the global average of 60%. Denmark, UAE and South Korea topped the list with over 98% people using the internet.

Social media users increased by more than 400 million or 9.9% in the past 12 months, reaching 4.55 billion last month. User growth has slowed slightly over the past three months, but the global total continues to increase at a rate of more than 1 million new users every single day, the report added.

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The growth in social media users is an “impressive milestone” as the figure is more than 10% higher than last year, the report said. In fact, an average of 13 new users started to use social media for the first time every second during the last 13 months.

Social media users are likely to be adopted by 60% of the global population in the first half of 2022, the research firm estimated.

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