Facebook Used By Quarter Of World’s Population Daily In December: Report

Meta said that the number of people active across all of its apps, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp each day was up by 5 per cent year-on-year.  

Shares in Facebook-parent Meta also surged over 15 per cent in after-hours trade.

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Facebook added an average of two billion users in December who used the site daily — about a quarter of the world's population. As per a report by BBC, Facebook’s parent company Meta said that the number of users on the site daily increased by 4 per cent from a year earlier, adding users even in Europe, the US, and Canada. 

The company said that the number of people active across all of its apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp each day was up by 5 per cent year-on-year.  

According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company was making progress with its video product, reels, which it has been focused on as it faces off with rivals such as TikTok, which has gained traction, especially among young users. 

This major increase in the number of daily users on its site helped Facebook drive new optimism about the company which has been under pressure as its cost rise and advertising sales slump. 

Shares in Meta also surged over 15 per cent in after-hours trade as Zuckerberg declared 2023 the “year of efficiency” and added that he was focused on cost cuts. 

"We're in a different environment now," he said, pointing to the firm's revenue, which declined in 2022 for the first time in its history after years of double-digit growth. "2022 was a challenging year but I think we ended it having made good progress," Zuckerberg said.

"We don't anticipate that that's going to continue, but I also don't think it's going to go back to the way it was before."

A major restructuring was announced last year by Meta which included reducing office space and cutting 11,000 jobs or about 13 per cent of its staff.