Key Saudi Arabia social media statistics for 2026
- WhatsApp is the most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, used by 92.7%. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- Snapchat is the second most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, used by 83.6%. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- TikTok is the third most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, used by 77%. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- 96.2% of internet users aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia take part in social media networks, the most common thing people do online. (GASTAT, Jan 2026)
- 89.7% of people in Saudi Arabia use voice and video calling apps. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- Snapchat is the most used voice and video calling app in Saudi Arabia: 72.4% use it for calls. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- Snapchat is the most used app among Saudis aged 10-19 (89.3%); WhatsApp ranks fourth in that age group (79.8%). (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- More women than men use Snapchat in Saudi Arabia: 88.2% vs 80.2%. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- 61.3% of internet users in Saudi Arabia are online for 7 hours or more a day. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- 76.9% of people in Saudi Arabia shop online. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- People in Saudi Arabia use 53 GB of mobile data a month on average, three times the global average. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
- 45.2% of people in Saudi Arabia used AI tools in 2025, more than double the previous year. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
How to cite this page. Use any figure here, credit the original source shown next to it, and link to this page: "Saudi Arabia Social Media & WhatsApp Statistics 2026, Adjoltz, updated 15 October 2026, https://adjoltz.com/blog/saudi-arabia-social-media-statistics/".
How many people in Saudi Arabia use social media?
96.2% of internet users aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia take part in social media networks, the most common thing people do online. (GASTAT, Jan 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| 99.6% of people in Saudi Arabia use the internet, according to CST's Saudi Internet 2025 report. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| 99.0% of people aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia use the internet, according to GASTAT's 2025 household survey. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| Saudi nationals are more likely than non-Saudis to use social media: 98.2% vs 94.4% of internet users aged 15-74. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| 34.4 million people in Saudi Arabia were using the internet at the end of 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| Saudi Arabia had 38.6 million social media user identities in October 2025, equal to 111% of the population. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| Social media user identities in Saudi Arabia grew by 5.8 million (+17.7%) between late 2024 and the end of 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
CST and GASTAT run separate surveys with different methods, so their internet figures differ slightly. DataReportal counts accounts (user identities), which can exceed the population.
Which social media apps are most used in Saudi Arabia?
WhatsApp is the most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, used by 92.7%. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| Snapchat is the second most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, used by 83.6%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| TikTok is the third most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, used by 77%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| YouTube is the fourth most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, used by 75.8%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Instagram is used by 40.8% of people in Saudi Arabia, fifth among social media apps. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| X (formerly Twitter) is used by 34.9% of people in Saudi Arabia, sixth among social media apps. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Telegram is used by 24.3% of people in Saudi Arabia, seventh among social media apps. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Facebook is used by 18.8% of people in Saudi Arabia, eighth among social media apps. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Facebook Messenger is used by 11.6% of people in Saudi Arabia. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Jaco is the 10th most used social media app in Saudi Arabia, at 5.4%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Three of the four most visited websites in Saudi Arabia in 2025 were social platforms: youtube.com (2nd), instagram.com (3rd) and x.com (4th), behind wikipedia.org. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| TikTok was the third most downloaded app in Saudi Arabia in 2025, behind ChatGPT and NAFATH; Snapchat was ninth. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Facebook sent 63.56% of social media referral traffic to websites in Saudi Arabia in September 2026, ahead of Instagram (14.53%). | Statcounter, Sep 2026 |
How did Saudi social media use change in 2023 and 2024?
In 2024, YouTube was Saudi Arabia's second most used social media app at 79.9%. (CST Saudi Internet report, May 2025)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| In 2023, 74% of people in Saudi Arabia used YouTube. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jan 2024 |
| In 2024, 79% of people in Saudi Arabia used Snapchat (third, behind WhatsApp and YouTube). | CST Saudi Internet report, May 2025 |
| In 2023, 77.8% of people in Saudi Arabia used Snapchat. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jan 2024 |
| In 2024, 74.6% of people in Saudi Arabia used TikTok. | CST Saudi Internet report, May 2025 |
| In 2023, 72.3% of people in Saudi Arabia used TikTok. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jan 2024 |
| In 2024, 92.2% of people in Saudi Arabia used WhatsApp. | CST Saudi Internet report, May 2025 |
| In 2023, 90.9% of people in Saudi Arabia used WhatsApp. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jan 2024 |
| In 2024, 37.3% of people in Saudi Arabia used X. | CST Saudi Internet report, May 2025 |
| In 2023, 45.7% of people in Saudi Arabia used X, the fifth most used app that year. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jan 2024 |
| In 2024, 48.6% of internet users in Saudi Arabia were online 7 hours or more a day. | CST Saudi Internet report, May 2025 |
| In 2023, 52.3% of internet users in Saudi Arabia were online 7 hours or more a day. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jan 2024 |
| 45.2% of people in Saudi Arabia used AI tools in 2025, more than double the previous year. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
CST does not publish its sample size or fieldwork dates, so treat small year-on-year moves with caution.
How many people in Saudi Arabia use WhatsApp and calling apps?
89.7% of people in Saudi Arabia use voice and video calling apps. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| Sensor Tower estimates WhatsApp Messenger had around 26.7 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates the WhatsApp Business app averaged around 9.3 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates Telegram averaged around 18 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates the calling app imo had around 10 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Snapchat is the most used voice and video calling app in Saudi Arabia: 72.4% use it for calls. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Women in Saudi Arabia are more likely than men to make calls on Snapchat: 80.3% vs 66.4%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Saudi Arabia's central bank (SAMA) has told financial institutions not to use WhatsApp or similar chat apps to communicate with customers, under a circular dated 29 October 2024 that is in force. | SAMA Rulebook, Oct 2024 |
WhatsApp does not appear in CST's top five calling apps; CST does not say why. The SAMA rule applies only to financial institutions it supervises.
How many users does each platform reach in Saudi Arabia?
YouTube's ad tools showed 27.5 million users in Saudi Arabia in late 2025, equal to 79.2% of the population. (DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate))
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| Snapchat's ad tools showed 25.3 million users in Saudi Arabia in late 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| Snapchat ads reached 89.0% of adults aged 18 and over in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates Snapchat had around 15.5 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates YouTube averaged just over 24.9 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates TikTok averaged around 26 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Instagram's ad tools showed 18.2 million users in Saudi Arabia in late 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates Instagram had about 8.7 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Facebook's ad tools showed 17.7 million users in Saudi Arabia in late 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates Facebook had around 13.5 million active users in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| X's ad tools showed 15.0 million users in Saudi Arabia in late 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| LinkedIn had 12.0 million registered members in Saudi Arabia in late 2025. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
Ad-tool reach counts accounts an advertiser can target, not people, and Sensor Tower figures are modelled estimates. The two often differ a lot.
How does social media use in Saudi Arabia vary by age?
Snapchat is the most used app among Saudis aged 10-19 (89.3%); WhatsApp ranks fourth in that age group (79.8%). (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| WhatsApp use in Saudi Arabia is highest among people aged 40-49, at 96.7%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Snapchat use falls from 91% among people aged 20-29 to 55% among those aged 60-74. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| TikTok use falls from 82.1% among people aged 20-29 to 51.7% among those aged 60-74. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| YouTube's reach varies least with age: 80.4% of 10-19s use it, and 67.2% of 60-74s. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Instagram is most popular with people aged 20-29 (51.2%) and least with those aged 60-74 (16.5%). | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Internet use in Saudi Arabia is 100% among people aged 30-39 and drops to 92.8% among those aged 60-74. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| 76.8% of children and teenagers in Saudi Arabia use apps for social networking or online communication. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| 20.4% of children and teenagers in Saudi Arabia watch video bloggers and influencers on video-sharing platforms. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| 86.6% of families in Saudi Arabia worry about their children spending long periods online, their top concern. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| 24.9% of families in Saudi Arabia say their children's use of social networking sites is a concern. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
How does social media use in Saudi Arabia differ for men and women?
More women than men use Snapchat in Saudi Arabia: 88.2% vs 80.2%. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| More men than women use WhatsApp in Saudi Arabia: 94.4% vs 90.4%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| More men than women use YouTube in Saudi Arabia: 81.1% vs 68.8%, the widest gender gap of the five apps CST splits. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| TikTok is used almost equally by women (77.6%) and men (76.5%) in Saudi Arabia. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Slightly more women than men use Instagram in Saudi Arabia: 42.4% vs 39.5%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| Women in Saudi Arabia are more likely than men to be online 7 hours or more a day: 63.8% vs 59.4%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| 60.9% of Saudi Arabia's social media user identities are male and 39.1% female. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
| 75.7% of Facebook's adult ad audience in Saudi Arabia is male. | DataReportal, Nov 2025 (estimate) |
How does internet use vary across Saudi Arabia's regions?
Online shopping varies widely by region: 85.2% of people in the Eastern Region shop online, against 60.6% in Hail. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| Internet use reaches 100% in five of Saudi Arabia's 13 regions (Riyadh, Makkah, Eastern, Al Madinah, Hail); the lowest is Aseer at 98.5%. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| GASTAT puts internet use among people aged 15-74 at 99.9% in Riyadh and 96.6% in Najran, the lowest of the 13 regions. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| The Riyadh region generates 30.6% of Saudi Arabia's internet traffic. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
Neither CST nor GASTAT publishes app use by region.
How long do people in Saudi Arabia spend online?
61.3% of internet users in Saudi Arabia are online for 7 hours or more a day. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| GASTAT's household survey finds 15.8% of people aged 15-74 spend an average of 7 hours or more a day online; the most common band is 3 to 6 hours (52.9%). | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| Internet use in Saudi Arabia peaks on Fridays between 9pm and 11pm, and March is the busiest month. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| 96.8% of people aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia use the internet at least once a day. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| 98.4% of people aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia go online with a mobile phone; 8.6% use a laptop. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| 60% of smartphones used in Saudi Arabia run Android and 40% are Apple (iOS). | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| 79.4% of people aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia watch video content online. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
CST and GASTAT ask about time online in different ways, which is why their 7-hours-a-day figures are so far apart. Don't compare them.
How do people in Saudi Arabia shop and respond to ads online?
76.9% of people in Saudi Arabia shop online. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| 95.3% of online shoppers in Saudi Arabia buy from local websites, and 55.4% from international ones. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| 57.2% of internet users aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia look up information about goods or services online, the second most common activity after social media. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| 12.9% of people aged 15-74 in Saudi Arabia block ads in their internet apps; among Saudi nationals it is 16.7%. | GASTAT, Jan 2026 |
| Sensor Tower estimates Snapchat's weekly in-app revenue in Saudi Arabia peaked at $1.08M at the end of December 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
| Sensor Tower estimates TikTok's weekly in-app revenue in Saudi Arabia was $706K at the end of December 2025. | Sensor Tower, Jan 2026 (estimate) |
How does Saudi Arabia compare with the rest of the world?
People in Saudi Arabia use 53 GB of mobile data a month on average, three times the global average. (CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026)
| Statistic | Source |
|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia's median mobile download speed of 216 Mbps ranks among the top five in the G20. | CST Saudi Internet report, Jul 2026 |
| About three-quarters of the world's population, an estimated 6 billion people, use the internet in 2025. | ITU, Nov 2025 |
| Worldwide, there were 5.66 billion social media user identities in October 2025, equal to 68.7% of the world's population. | DataReportal, Oct 2025 (estimate) |
How we built this page
Every figure comes from the organisation that produced it: government bodies and regulators, company filings and official documents, and original research by the organisation that ran it. We opened each source, confirmed the number on the page and kept the exact wording in a verification sheet, checked on 15 October 2026. Most figures come from the regulator CST's Saudi Internet reports and GASTAT's household survey. Ad-tool audiences and Sensor Tower app figures are labelled as estimates. Research paid for by a company with an interest in the result is labelled "commissioned", and modelled figures are labelled "estimate". We check every source link monthly and refresh the numbers each quarter.
Sources
- Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), Saudi Arabia, Saudi Internet 2023 (2024-01-01)
- Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), Saudi Arabia, Saudi Internet 2024 (2025-05-12)
- Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), Saudi Arabia, Saudi Internet 2025 (2026-07-18)
- DataReportal (Kepios analysis; report partners Meltwater and We Are Social), Digital 2026 Global Overview Report (2025-10-15)
- DataReportal (Kepios analysis; report partners Meltwater and We Are Social), Digital 2026: Saudi Arabia (2025-11-08)
- General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), Saudi Arabia, ICT Access and Usage Statistics by Households and Individuals 2025 (2026-01-05)
- General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), Saudi Arabia, ICT Access and Usage Statistics by Households and Individuals 2025 (publication tables, XLSX) (2026-01-05)
- International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Facts and Figures 2025 (press release) (2025-11-17)
- Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), SAMA Rulebook: Using Instant Chat Applications to Communicate with Customers (2024-10-29)
- Sensor Tower, Top 5 Communication Apps in Saudi Arabia Q4 2025 (2026-01)
- Sensor Tower, Top 5 Photo and Video Apps in Saudi Arabia Q4 2025 (2026-01)
- Sensor Tower, Top 5 Social Apps Performance in Saudi Arabia Q4 2025 (2026-01)
- Statcounter Global Stats, Social Media Stats in Saudi Arabia - September 2026 (2026-09)
