Pinoys remain #1 Internet users globally, says Digital 2025 report

Internet and social media-savvy Filipinos remain the top users of the World Wide Web and various social media platforms, based on the latest study by Meltwater, a global leader in social and media intelligence, and We Are Social, a socially led creative agency.

Based on the country-specific reports for the Digital 2025 study by Meltwater and We Are Social, which surveyed 17 nations, the study said that Filipinos spend an average of 8 hours and 52 minutes a day on the Internet, maintaining their rank as significantly ahead of the global average of 6 hours and 38 minutes.

The report further said that in terms of the use of digital communication methods, 98.9 percent of Filipino Internet users use chat and messenger services each month, higher than the global average of 94.5 percent.

“94.2 percent of Filipino Internet users use email services each month, higher than the global average of 75.0 percent, while 49.5 percent of Filipino Internet users use mobile video calling services each month, higher than the global average of 35.5 percent,” the report said.

In terms of utilizing financial services, Filipinos still showed dominance, according to the study, with 91.3 percent of Filipino Internet users using a banking, investment, or insurance website or app each month.

Love all things video

On the other hand, the study also found that 97.6 percent of Filipino Internet users aged 16 years and above watch online video content each week, ahead of the global benchmark of 92.0 percent.

“They are heavily drawn to online videos and are ranked #2 in using them as a source of learning (58.1 percent), and #1 in watching vlogs (48.3 percent) and online music videos (72.3 percent), far exceeding any of their global peers. Filipinos also rank #1 globally for playing video games, with 96.6 percent of Internet users aged 16+ playing video games on any device. The global average stands at 83.6 percent,” the study further stated.

On social media usage

Regarding social media platforms, the study stated that Filipino Internet users aged 16+ spend three hours and 32 minutes on social media each day, ranking #4 globally.

“Filipino Internet users actively use about 8.36 platforms each month. This makes them the #2 country in the world that uses the greatest number of social media platforms. Following influencers on social media is huge in the Philippines, with 44.9 percent of Internet users aged 16+ following influencers or other experts on social media. This makes the Philippines the #1 in the world,” the study further elucidated.

According to the Digital 2025 report, global social media user identities now stand at 5.24 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent over the past 12 months.

YouTube was the most used social media platform at the start of 2025, with an active user base 16 percent larger than second-placed WhatsApp. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok make up the top five.

When it comes to the world’s favorite social platform, Instagram tops the charts, with 16.6 percent of social media users pledging their allegiance. WhatsApp ranks second with 16 percent, while Facebook comes in third with 13.1 percent.

However, there is good news for TikTok, whose Android user base spent almost 35 hours using the platform’s app in November 2024. The average monthly time that the typical TikTok user spends using the platform’s Android app increased by almost two hours between August and November.

The 6.6 billion TikToks tagged with “#FYP” attracted an incremental 24 trillion views in 2024 alone, based on the Digital 2025 study.