Spotlight: Social Media in Southeast Asia ASEAN in Figures Social Media in Southeast Asia 35 ASEAN Digital Population 2018 1 Internet Penetration (%) 34 Social Media Penetration (%) Annual Growth (%) of Social Media Users 34 LAOS 6.91 m 74 67 11 2000 2016 84 50 95 Singapore Malaysia Vietnam Indonesia 75 70 70 61 41 18 — ISSUE 5/2018 12 75 1 hour d WhatsApp b 2nd in the world in terms of the number of monthly Facebook users. 5 50 44 49 32 38 d 17 73 68 40 50 49 23 e 55 42 47 47 24 INDONESIA 265.4 m Singapore ranks 1st in the world’s Networked Readiness Index, while Malaysia is 31st and Thailand is 62nd.6 100 e Facebook Messenger c BRUNEI 0.43 m PHILIPPINES 105.7 m MALAYSIA 31.83 m If ASEAN were a single country, it would rank in Japan c Instagram 72 71 69 59 43 79 9 SINGAPORE 5.75 m 63 VIETNAM 96.02 m 83 Most Active Social Media Platforms (%) 1 Thailand 95 9 in the UK a 63 11 2 hours b YouTube 20 THAILAND 69.11 m Southeast Asians spend average 3.6 hrs per person per day on the internet using a mobile device. This figure is higher than: 3 a Facebook 43 CAMBODIA 16.13 m Thais spend 4.2 hours on their mobile device per day, making them the heaviest internet users. 3 in China 141%: the percentage of mobile connectivity in Southeast Asia. 1 57 43 378 1,449 Almost 380 million people or 58% of the ASEAN population use the Internet. 1 82 29 (per 1000 people) 25 43 33 MYANMAR 53.61 m Internet Users and Mobile Phone Users in ASEAN 2 3 hours 35 Zalo reached million users in May 2018, most of whom are in Vietnam. It is also used by local authorities of some 20 Vietnamese provinces as the online portal for administrative procedures and interaction with citizens. 10 Monthly active social media users in ASEAN: 1 360 mil 97 mil 53 million Indonesians use Instagram, accounting for 55% of total Instagram users in the region. 1