What is the most popular social media platform in Ireland? How much is spent on social media advertising in Ireland each year? How much time is spent on social media on average per day? What is Facebooks potential ad audience compared to Instagrams? Just how important is social media for brand and product research? You will find all these answers and much more in the 83 really interesting Irish Social Media statistics presented below.
(Note: The statistics presented here are almost all drawn directly from the excellent Digital 2022 Global Overview Report which Datareportal publish each year in association with We Are Social and Hootsuite and which utilises data from a variety of partners, and the somewhat shorter Digital 2022 Ireland Report. I have also taken a very small amount of the data presented in the Digital 2021 Ireland Report and the Digital 2017 Ireland Report to show some changes over the previous year or five years. In just a couple of instances I have included data presented in other reports. I have provided a separate link in any instance where I have done this.
There are also some notes and advisories in relation to the data on the original reports from which I have used to draw up this list. This includes an advisory on audience figures not representing unique individuals for some social media networks and that the advertising reach for some social media platforms may differ from the monthly active users of those same platforms. If you’re interested in gaining a better understanding of these notes please check out the original reports.
And so with due credit given and advisory’s noted (phew!) please read on to discover 83 really interesting and useful Irish social media statistics.
General Irish Social Media Statistics
Overall Social Media Use
- 79% of Irish people are active social media users.
- 95.4% of people are active social media users as a percentage of the total population aged over 13, .
- The total number of social media users in Ireland in 2022 stands at 3.95 million.
- The number of active social media users in Ireland has grown from 2.8 million in 2017 to 3.95 million in 2022 which is an increase of 31% over the five year period.
- The number of social media users in Ireland increased by 4.2% or 160,000 year-on-year.
- The average number of social platforms used in Ireland stands at 6.7.
Most Used Social Media Platform
- WhatsApp is the most-used social media platform in Ireland based on a survey of internet users aged 16-64 with 84.6% of respondents reporting using it each month. (Aside: Is WhatsApp a social media platform? It could be argued that it is primarily a messaging app.)
- Facebook is the second most-used social media platform in Ireland based on a survey of internet users aged 16-64 with 75.9% of respondents reporting using it each month.
- Facebook Messenger is the third most-used social media platform in Ireland based on a survey of internet users aged 16-64 with 65.9% of respondents reporting using it each month.
- Instagram is the fourth most-used social media platform in Ireland based on a survey of internet users aged 16-64 with 64.8% of respondents reporting using it each month.
- Twitter is the fifth most-used social media platform in Ireland based on a survey of internet users aged 16-64 with 44.1% of respondents reporting using it each month.
- TikTok is the sixth most-used social media platform in Ireland based on a survey of internet users aged 16-64 with 37.5% of respondents reporting using it each month.
- Snapchat is the seventh most-used social media platform in Ireland based on a survey of internet users aged 16-64 with 36.9% of respondents reporting using it each month.
- The eight, ninth and tenth most used social media platform in Ireland are Pinterest (33.5%), LinkedIn (33.3%) and iMessage (28.8% respectively.
Time Spent on Social Media in Ireland
- The average amount of time spent on social media each day in Ireland is 1 hour and 59 minutes. (Aside: The total amount of time spent accessing the internet across all devices in Ireland is 6 hours and 30 minutes per day).
- The amount of time spent on social media increased by 17 minutes over the 5 year period from 2017 to 2022.
Reasons for Using Social Media in Ireland
- ‘Keeping in touch with family and friends’ is cited most often as one of the primary reasons why people use social media with 58.5% mentioning it as a primary reason.
- ‘Filling spare time’ is the second most-often primary reason given why people use social media with it being cited 42.6% of the time.
- ‘Reading news stories’ is the third most-often primary reason given why people use social media with it being cited 35.6% of the time.
- ‘Seeing whats being talked about’ is the fourth most-often primary reason given why people use social media with it being cited 29.6% of the time.
- ‘Finding content’ is the fifth most-often primary reason given why people use social media with it being cited 28.8% of the time.
- ‘Looking for things to do or buy’ is the sixth most-often primary reason given why people use social media with it being cited 27.8% of the time.
- ‘Finding prducts to purchase’ is the seventh most-often primary reason why people use social media with it being cited 20.1% of the time.
- ‘Avoiding missing out'(19.9%), ‘Finding like-minded people'(19.2%), and ‘Finding content from brands'(19%), are mentioned eight, ninth and tenth most often respectively as one of the primary reasons for using social media.
Favourite Social Media Platforms in Ireland
- WhatsApp is named as their favourite social media platform by 24.7% of a broad survey of internet users aged 16-64.
- Instagram is named as their favourite social media platform by 19.1% of a broad survey of internet users aged 16-64.
- Facebook is named as their favourite social media platform by 17% of a broad survey of internet users aged 16-64.
- TikTok is named as their favourite social media platform by 7.9% of a broad survey of internet users aged 16-64.
- Snapchat is named as their favourite social media platform by 6.4% of a broad survey of internet users aged 16-64.
- Twitter is named as their favourite social media platform by 5.1% of a broad survey of internet users aged 16-64.
(Note: YouTube was not offered as a response option in this particular survey)
Social Media as a means of Brand Discovery in Ireland
- 33.9% of internet users in Ireland aged 16-64 using social media use it for brand research.
- The percentage of internet users in Ireland who discover new brands, products or services via social media ads is 27.6%.
- The percentage of Internet users in Ireland who discover new brands, products or services via social media comments is 22%.
- In response to the question- “What type of accounts you follow on social media?” -28.8% said they follow brands they buy from.
- 14.8% of internet users said they clicked or tapped on a sponsored social media post in the previous 30 days
Social Media Advertising Statistics in Ireland
- Social media’s share of total digital advertising spend in Ireland is 32.5%
- The year-on-year change in social media’s share of total digital advertising spend was +0.010%.
- Annual spend on social media advertising in Ireland is the equivalent to US$372.5 million.
- The year-on-year change in social media advertising spend in 2021 was +22.1% or an additional US$68 million.
Statistical Breakdown by Individual Social Media Platform in Ireland
Facebook in Ireland Statistics
- 75.9% of internet users aged 16-64 use the Facebook platform each month as reported in February 2022.
- The Facebook advertising eligible reach rate is 60.4% as a percentage of population aged 13+.
- According to Statista, people aged 25 to 34 made up the largest share of users with 24.2 percent, followed by those aged 35 to 44, who accounted for 22.2 percent of users. People aged 13 to 17 years made up just 3.2 percent of Facebook’s audience in Ireland.
- Facebook reports that 54.2% of its ad audience are female.
- 45.8% of Facebook’s ad audience is male.
- A typical female Facebook user clicks or taps on an ad 23 times over the previous 30 days.
- A typical Male Facebook user clicks or taps on an ad 16 times over the previous 30 days.
- Video Posts have the highest percentage of engagement (reactions, comments and shares) as a percentage of total page fans at .12%.
- The average Facebook post engagements for all post types is 0.06% as a percentage of total page fans.
Instagram in Ireland Statistics
- The Instagram advertising eligible reach rate is 58% of the population aged 13+.
- The total potential reach of ads on Instagram is 2.4 million people.
- According to NapoleonCat, people aged 25-34 made up the largest share of users with 30.1%, followed by people aged 18-24 which accounted for 23.9% of users. People aged 35-44 came next accounting for 21.5%.
- Female Instagram ad reach is 57.3% of the overall Instagram ad reach.
- Male Instagram ad reach is 42.7% of the overall Instagram ad reach.
- The year-on-year change in Instagram ad reach is +9.1% or +200,000 users.
YouTube in Ireland Statistics
- The potential advertising reach rate is 88.1% compared with the overall population aged 18+.
- The potential reach of ads on YouTube is 3.95 million people.
- YouTube ad reach vs total population is 79%.
- The year-on-year change in YouTube ad reach is +4.2% or 160,000.
TikTok in Ireland Statistics
- 37.55% of internet users aged 16-64 in Ireland use the TikTok platform each month.
- The potential ad reach on TikTok is 1.88 million people aged 18+.
- TikTok’s advertising reach rate is 49.6%.
- Female TikTok ad reach is 57.4% of the overall TikTok ad reach.
- Male TikTok ad reach is 42.6% of the overall TikTok ad reach.
- The Quarter-on-Quarter change in TikTok ad reach is 7.3% or a total additional audience of 128,000.
Snapchat in Ireland Statistics
- The total potential reach of ads on Snapchat is 1.95 million.
- Snapchat ad reach is 39% as a percentage of the overall population.
- Snapchat’s ad reach as a percentage of the population aged 13+ is 47.1%.
- Female Snapchat ad reach is 53.1% of the overall Snapchat ad reach.
- Male Snapchat ad reach is 46.9% of the overall Snapchat ad reach.
Twitter in Ireland Statistics
- The total potential audience that twitter reports can be reached with ads on twitter is 1.35 million.
- Twitter’s potential ad reach as a percentage of the total poulation is 27%.
- Twitter’s potantial ad reach as a percentage of the population aged 13+ is 32.6%.
- Twitter reported a 0% quarter-on-quarter change (unchanged) in its potential advertising reach.
LinkedIn in Ireland Statistics
- The total potential ad reach of ads on LinkedIn is 2.5 million people.
- LinkedIn’s potential ad reach as a percentage of the total poulation is 50%.
- LinkedIn’s potential ad reach as a percentage of the population aged 18+ is 66%.
- The year-on-year change in the LinkedIn potential ad reach is +8.7% or 200,000.
- Female LinkedIn ad reach is 47.8% of the overall LinkedIn ad reach.
- Male LinkedIn ad reach is 52.2% of the overall LinkedIn ad reach.
Pinterest in Ireland Statistics
- The total potential ad reach of ads on Pinterest is 737,500 people.
- Pinterest’s potential ad reach as a percentage of the total poulation is 14.7%.
- LinkedIn’s potential ad reach as a percentage of the population aged 13+ is 17.8%
- Female Pinterest ad reach is 75.8% of the overall Pinterest ad reach.
- Male Pinterest ad reach is 17.3% of the overall Pinterest ad reach
Want to talk Social Media Marketing?
Hopefully you will have found something in the 83 Irish social media statistics presented here of particular interest to you? Clearly social media use is embedded in our daily lives and among all age groups and that is unlikely to change. For brands and businesses it can be a great way to connect with customers in a more authentic way than many other channels. If you want to talk to us about your social media marketing strategy we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to contact us at hello@forwardmarketing.ie