Social Network Users in Latin America 2018

Facebook is the largest social network in Latin America, with an estimated 284.5 million users in 2018. But user growth is plateauing and will rise by low single digits over the next five years. Instagram is on a very different trajectory, however. We forecast its user base will increase 18.4% to 125.9 million this year, reaching 43.1% of social network users.

Instagram, Facebook’s photo-sharing platform, had a slow start in Latin America due to the region’s low smartphone adoption and high data rates. But in 2015 and 2016, affordable smartphones entered the market: New smartphone owners signed up for Instagram, and user growth jumped from 34.5% to 44.4%. And Instagram adoption has continued to rise; we expect user growth in the region will be more than double that of social network growth by 2022.

Consumers in Brazil were early adopters of Instagram. In 2015, one-fifth of its internet users were regularly using the platform. This is largely because social network usage skews high in the country; close to nine in 10 internet users are expected to go on social sites this year, vs. 80.3% for users across the region. Brazil will continue to be Instagram’s largest market in Latin America, with 42.2% of web users logging on at least once per month.