Facebook's User Growth Stalls Where It Hurts

Published on: January 31, 2019 / Update from: February 10, 2022 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Given its size, it's no surprise that Facebook's user growth has slowed recently. After all, the social network has more than 2.3 billion (!) active users per month, while the International Telecommunication Union estimates the number of global Internet users at around 3.9 billion.

What's hurting the company, however, is the fact that the regions where Facebook generates the lion's share of its revenue are hit hardest by the economic slowdown. Over the past three months, the social network has added just 2 million users in North America and 5 million users across Europe, where it generated 50 and 25 percent of its total revenue last quarter, respectively.

The chart below shows how much more valuable a North American user is to Facebook compared to users in Asia Pacific, where the social network is currently seeing the strongest user growth. In Q4 2018, average revenue per user was $34.86 in the US and Canada and just $2.96 in Asia Pacific.

Considering its size, it's not a surprise that Facebook's user growth has been slowing down recently. After all, the social network has more than 2.3 billion (!) monthly active users while the International Telecommunications Union puts the number of global internet users at around 3.9 billion.

What hurts the company though, is the fact that the regions most affected by the slowdown are the ones where Facebook generates the lion's share of its revenue. Over the past three months, the social network has added just 2 million users in North America and 5 million users across Europe, which is where it generated 50 and 25 percent of its total revenue in the past quarter, respectively.

The following chart shows how much more valuable a North American user is to Facebook compared to users in the Asia-Pacific region, which is where the social network is currently seeing the strongest growth of its user base. In Q4 2018, average revenue per user amounted to $34.86 in the US and Canada and only $2.96 in Asia-Pacific.

Facebook User Growth – Image: Statista