TikTok closely rivals Facebook in Nigeria, with TikTok's 37.40M users representing 15.8% of the national population

Key takeaways:

  • Facebook has the highest number of users in Nigeria at 38.7 million, reaching 16.4% of the population.
  • TikTok follows closely with 37.4 million users, accounting for 15.8% of Nigerians.
  • YouTube attracts 27 million users, showing its continued relevance for content consumption.
  • Snapchat boasts 19.6 million users, with 8.3% penetration across the country.
  • LinkedIn is used by 11 million Nigerians, reflecting rising interest in professional networking.
  • Instagram has 9.9 million users, slightly below LinkedIn in total reach.
  • X (formerly Twitter) has 7.57 million users, capturing 3.2% of the population.
  • Messenger is the least used among the listed platforms, with 5.65 million users in Nigeria.

Social media use in Nigeria is dominated by Facebook and TikTok, with both platforms recording over 37 million users each as of January 2025. Facebook leads slightly with 38.7 million users, accounting for 16.4% of the population, while TikTok is close behind with 37.4 million (15.8%). This near parity reveals TikTok’s remarkable growth, especially among Nigeria’s large youth population, and signals a shifting balance in the country’s digital engagement patterns.

Platforms like YouTube and Snapchat also maintain a strong foothold, indicating that video and visual content are central to how Nigerians interact online. With 27 million YouTube users and nearly 20 million Snapchat users, visual and short-form content continue to gain momentum across demographics. TikTok’s growth has been especially visible among young creators, skit makers, and SMEs who use the platform to drive engagement, sell products, or participate in viral trends.

Source:

Datareportal

Period:

2025
HTML code to embed chart
Want a bespoke report?
Reach out
Click to copy HTML embed code
Tags
Related Insights
Seven of Africa's top 10 streamers on Twitch and Kick are Nigerians
  • Ilyas El Maliki is Africa’s most followed streamer, with 846,900 followers on Kick.
  • Nigeria dominates the top ten, contributing seven streamers to the list.
  • Nigeria’s top streamers have a combined 1.35 million followers, showing a strong concentration of influence.
  • Follower distribution drops sharply after the top two.
  • Streaming influence in Africa is country-clustered rather than evenly distributed across the continent.
  • Platforms such as Twitch and Kick are enabling African creators to compete globally.
Nathaniel Bassey's livestream crosses one million concurrent viewers, ranking among YouTube’s global top 10 in 2025
  • Nathaniel Bassey Main peaked at 1.02 million concurrent viewers, ranking 6th globally among YouTube’s most-watched livestreams in 2025.
  • Nigeria is one of the few countries to cross the one-million peak viewer mark, alongside major global entertainment creators.
  • Religious livestreams account for multiple top-ranking events, indicating strong real-time engagement beyond music and entertainment.
  • Peak viewership is tightly clustered at the top, with only about 700,000 viewers separating 1st and 10th place.
Pastor Jerry Eze places Nigeria in the global top three YouTube livestreams for 2025, with 105 million watch hours
  • Pastor Jerry Eze ranks 3rd globally, with 105 million hours watched, outperforming most entertainment and music livestream channels.
  • Faith-based livestreaming dominates the top tier, with religious creators accounting for four of the top ten.
  • Nigeria is the only African country represented in the global top ten, signalling a strong international reach.
  • Live spiritual content competes directly with relaxation and music streams, traditionally among YouTube’s most-watched formats.
Over 4 out of 10 global active X users, precisely 43.5%, are located in Asia
  • Asia accounts for the largest share of X (formerly Twitter) users globally at 43.5%.
  • America follows closely with a 30.2% global share of active users.
  • Africa contributes just 4.8% of active users, highlighting underrepresentation.
  • Oceania has the smallest presence, accounting for only 1.1% of users.
  • Asia alone has more X users than Europe and Africa combined.
African Facebook users (291.10M) outnumber TikTok users (189.30M) by over 100 million
  • Facebook leads Africa’s social media use with 291.1M users, accounting for 12.7% of its global base.
  • TikTok holds second place with 189.3M African users, representing 11.9% of TikTok's global audience.
  • Meta dominates among the top four platforms with Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.
  • LinkedIn’s 82.99M users show a strong uptake in professional networking, amounting to 5.3% of the platform’s global users.
  • Twitter (X) is used by 27.85M Africans, representing 4.8% of its global base—smallest on the chart, but still impactful.
The combined active TikTok users of Asia and America total 1.14B, showing their dominant market presence
  • Asia accounts for 39.6% of global TikTok users, the largest regional share.
  • America follows with 31.7% of the global TikTok user base.
  • Africa represents 11.9% of active TikTok users globally, totaling 189.3 million.
  • Oceania has the smallest share with 10 million users or just 0.6% globally.
  • Asia and America combined make up over 71% of all TikTok users worldwide.
POPULAR TOPICS
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Get periodic updates about the African startup space, access to our reports, among others.
Subscribe Here
Subscription Form
A product of Techpoint Africa. All rights reserved