Digital 2024: Top digital and social media trends in Singapore
SPECIAL REPORT
Our latest report, Digital 2024: Singapore, in partnership with Meltwater, reveals the key trends and online behaviours of Singaporeans. Here are the top takeaways from the local report.
We are a social bunch in Singapore
There are 5.13 million social media user identities in Singapore which equates to 85 percent of the nation’s population. This figure sees the nation rank tenth globally for social media adoption versus total population. Singaporeans spend 2 hours, 14 minutes a day on social media across an average of 6.9 social media platforms each month.
It’s all about connection
Chat and messaging (97.5 percent) are the number one type of app or website they visit, followed by social networks (95.8 percent). Aside from keeping in touch with family and friends (43.4 percent), filling in spare time (35.5 percent) and reading the news (32.6 percent) are the primary reasons that more than a third use social media.
WhatsApp is Singapore’s favourite social media platform
WhatsApp is officially Singapore’s social media platform of choice. While Instagram may be the favoured social media platform in other markets, in Singapore we see social media users favour platforms that offer focused utility.
For connection and increasingly for business communication, WhatsApp is a clear leader. The messaging app takes the top spot in Singapore for both favourite (27.2 percent) and most used social media platform (74.7 percent) with local users clocking an average of 978 sessions per month in its Android app. Facebook sits behind in second place as favourite (16.7 percent) and most used (72.7 percent) social media platform.
All eyeballs (and downloads) on TikTok
TikTok continues to its staggering rise, as it becomes a bonafide platform for search and discovery, not just entertainment. In an era of fragmented attention where brands are vying to capture the attention of consumers, TikTok’s platform continues to show strong engagement with average usage amounting to more than 33 hours a month – that’s more than one whole day on the app. It’s a rocketship.
The app was also the most downloaded app in Singapore in 2023, followed by messaging app Telegram and fellow Bytedance-owned video editing tool Capcut.
The nation of foodies
While in other markets, actors, comedians and other performers usually take the second spot for types of social media accounts followed, that’s not the case in Singapore. After people they know, Singaporeans’ favourite social media users to follow are restaurants, chefs and food personalities.
Digital makes up more than half of the ad spend pie
Digital ad spend in 2023 grew 10.5 percent to SG$2.34 billion. It now makes up 59.7 percent of total ad spend. Social media and influencer advertising are both growing their share of this digital spend. Social media ad spend makes up 24.5 percent share of total digital advertising spend, increasing 11.8 percent in 2023 to $573.5 million.
Consumers will pay for digital media
Spending on digital media continues to grow. Consumers in Singapore spent $1.45 billion on digital media subscriptions and downloads in 2023, up 9.1 percent year-on-year. Epublishing and video games accounted for the largest share of this, while video-on-demand experienced the highest growth.
Gaming goes gangbusters
While most types of media experienced declines year-on-year in daily usage, gaming consoles have completely bucked the trend. Singaporeans spend an average of 1 hour, 2 minutes each day using a gaming console, up 10 minutes (or 20.9 percent) year-on-year. That’s pretty impressive when you consider how hard it is to capture people’s attention in today’s media landscape!
If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full report here alongside our Global Report.
