Social Media Statistics Updated November 2026

Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated

155 Social Media Statistics for the UK in 2026

The UK had 59.0 million social media user identities in October 2026, equal to 84.3% of the population, on the Digital 2027 estimate by Kepios, though identities are not the same as unique people. In the last official figures, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2020, 70% of adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain used social networking. WhatsApp and Facebook are the platforms the most UK internet users say they use.

This page gathers the latest figures on social media in the UK: how many people use it, which platforms, by age and sex, children and teenagers, online harms and age checks, the under-16 ban, news and politics, scams and advertising, and what the platforms say about themselves. It draws on Kepios, GWI, the Reuters Institute, Pew Research Center, the ONS, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the Department for Education, the Children's Commissioner for England, InternetMatters.org, YouGov, UK Finance, the Advertising Association with WARC, IAB UK and the platforms. Every number links to the body that published it, with the date.

UK social media figures measure different things. Advertising reach and Kepios user identities count audiences in platforms' ad tools, not people. Surveys report the share of people who say they use a platform, each with its own ages and time window, and the government consultation drew self-selecting responses. Each figure here says what it measures and where, and figures on different bases are not compared.

Headline figures

How many people in the UK use social media?

Almost everyone in the UK is online, and Kepios's adult user identities equal more than nine in ten adults. Identities are not people, so the official ONS series, last published for Great Britain in 2020, is the better guide to the share of adults who use social networking.

45% 2011 48% 2012 53% 2013 54% 2014 57% 2015 63% 2016 66% 2017 65% 2018 68% 2019 70% 2020
View data table
Share of adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain who used the internet for social networking in the last three months, 2011-2020, from the ONS. The ONS has published no edition since 2020.
PeriodValue
201145%
201248%
201353%
201454%
201557%
201663%
201766%
201865%
201968%
202070%
Share of adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain who used the internet for social networking in the last three months, 2011-2020, from the ONS. The ONS has published no edition since 2020. (ONS (Internet access 2020, Great Britain), Aug 2020)
  • 51.3 million UK social media user identities were aged 18 and over at the end of 2026, equal to 92.1% of the adult population, on Kepios's estimate. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • Kepios says UK social media user identities rose by 3.5 million (+6.3%) between late 2025 and the end of 2026, and equalled 86.2% of all UK internet users in October 2026. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • In the Digital 2027 back-series, UK user identities were 56.2 million in October 2023, 54.8 million in October 2024 and 55.5 million in October 2025; Kepios notes a change in reporting methodology before 2023, so earlier years are not comparable. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • 68.5 million people in the UK used the internet in October 2026, 97.8% of the population and up 364,000 (+0.5%) in a year, while about 1.57 million people (2.2%) remained offline. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • On the same Digital 2027 series, UK internet users rose every year from 63.0 million in October 2016 to 68.1 million in October 2025. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • There were 90.8 million cellular mobile connections in the UK in late 2026, equal to 130% of the population; connections are SIMs, not people. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • 89% of adults in Great Britain (46.6 million) used the internet daily or almost daily in 2020, up from 35% (16.2 million) in 2006, and 5% had not used it in the last three months. (ONS (Internet access 2020, Great Britain), Aug 2020)

Kepios user identities are modelled largely from platforms' ad audiences and may not be unique people; Kepios revises its bases between editions, so only the Digital 2027 edition is used for UK totals. The ONS figures are an official survey of adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain (not Northern Ireland), last run in January-February 2020. The two are different measures and are not compared.

Which social media platforms do most people in the UK use?

Meta's apps lead in the UK: WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger top GWI's survey of internet users. Pew's survey of all UK adults asks a different question but puts Facebook and Instagram ahead of TikTok, X and Snapchat too.

  1. 1 WhatsApp 82.8%
  2. 2 Facebook 73.4%
  3. 3 Instagram 57.1%
  4. 4 Messenger 55.1%
  5. 5 YouTube 46.7%
  6. 6 TikTok 41.3%
  7. 7 X 31.8%
  8. 8 LinkedIn 29.9%
  9. 9 Snapchat 28.0%
  10. 10 Reddit 23.2%
Share of UK internet users aged 16 and over who say they used each platform at least once in the past month, Q2 2026, from GWI's survey as published by Kepios. (GWI (Q2 2026 survey, in Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)

GWI is an online survey of internet users aged 16 and over who say they used a platform in the past month. Pew asks a nationally representative sample of all UK adults whether they ever use a platform. Neither is compared with the other, or with the ad reach figures in the next section, which count audiences in ad tools.

What do advertising tools say about UK audiences?

YouTube has the largest ad audience in the UK on Google's tools, ahead of Facebook and Instagram. Ad reach counts the audience advertisers can target, not unique people, and it swings when platforms clean up accounts or change their tools, so Kepios flags several falls as possible data corrections.

  1. 1 YouTube 59.0m
  2. 2 Facebook 38.1m
  3. 3 Instagram 33.7m
  4. 4 Reddit 31.6m
  5. 5 Snapchat 23.6m
  6. 6 Pinterest 18.2m
  7. 7 X 15.2m
  8. 8 Threads 3.65m
Advertising reach in the UK by platform, late 2026, in millions, from each platform's ad tools as compiled by Kepios. Ad reach is not a count of unique people. LinkedIn (registered members) and TikTok (adults only) count on a different basis and are left out. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • Facebook's ad reach in the UK equalled 54.3% of the population and 68.3% of adults aged 18 and over in late 2026, and fell by 700,000 (-1.8%) between October 2025 and October 2026. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • Instagram's ad reach equalled 48.1% of the UK population and 60.4% of adults in late 2026, after falling by 1.75 million (-4.9%) in a year and 1.10 million (-3.2%) in the quarter to October 2026. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • TikTok's ad tools reached 27.8 million UK adults aged 18 and over in late 2026, equal to 50.0% of adults and up 1.08 million (+4.0%) on the end of 2025; TikTok's tools report adults only. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • LinkedIn's ad tools showed 53.0 million registered "members" in the UK in late 2026, equal to 95.1% of adults and up 5.00 million (+10.4%); members are not active users and are not directly comparable with other platforms. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • Snapchat's ad reach equalled 33.7% of the UK population, 35.3% of adults and 39.2% of people aged 13 and over in late 2026, down 315,000 (-1.3%) in a year. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • Reddit's ad reach equalled 45.1% of the UK population in late 2026 after falling by 14.2 million (-31.0%) in a year and 8.92 million (-22.0%) in the quarter to October 2026; Kepios flags such falls as possible data corrections. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • Pinterest's ad reach equalled 26.1% of the UK population and 30.4% of people aged 13 and over in late 2026, up 2.73 million (+17.6%) in a year. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • X's ad reach equalled 21.7% of the UK population and 25.3% of people aged 13 and over in late 2026. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • Threads' ad reach equalled 6.5% of UK adults in late 2026, up 3.62 million (+10,747%) in a year from a very small base. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • YouTube's ad reach in the UK grew by 1.60 million (+2.8%) between July and October 2026, on Google's ad planning tools. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • In Kepios's Digital 2026 edition, ads on Messenger reached 25.7 million people in the UK in late 2025, equal to 46.5% of adults; the Digital 2027 edition gives no Messenger figure. (Kepios (Digital 2026 UK), Nov 2025)
  • The UK had the eighth-largest Instagram ad audience in Kepios's list of the ten largest countries in October 2026, behind India (515 million), the US (180 million), Brazil (144 million), Indonesia (116 million), Japan (63.5 million), Turkey (60.2 million) and Mexico (57.4 million). (Kepios (Instagram stats page), Nov 2026)
  • The UK had the fifth-most registered LinkedIn members in Kepios's list of the ten largest countries in October 2026, after the US (300 million), India (210 million), Brazil (110 million) and China (59.0 million), and ahead of France (43.0 million). (Kepios (LinkedIn stats page), Oct 2026)
  • The UK's Pinterest ad reach was level with France's in October 2026, and behind the US (103 million), India (64.4 million), Brazil (48.2 million), Mexico (31.2 million), Indonesia (25.7 million) and Germany (24.8 million). (Kepios (Pinterest stats page), Oct 2026)
  • The UK had the seventh-largest Snapchat ad audience in Kepios's list of the ten largest countries in October 2026, after India (221 million), the US (99.3 million), Pakistan (42.8 million), France (31.0 million), Saudi Arabia (26.6 million) and Nigeria (26.4 million), and ahead of Germany (23.0 million). (Kepios (Snapchat stats page), Nov 2026)
  • The UK had the eighth-largest X ad audience in Kepios's list of the ten largest countries in October 2026; the US led with 77.3 million, followed by Japan (54.8 million) and India (22.9 million). (Kepios (X stats page), Nov 2026)

Kepios compiles ad audiences from each platform's advertising tools; Meta says its audience estimates are not a proxy for monthly or daily active users. Kepios revises its bases between editions, so earlier editions are not used to build trends, and the Digital 2026 Messenger figure stands on its own. Threads ads opened in the UK in January 2026, which explains its jump. Ad reach is not compared with survey shares or with the platforms' own user claims.

Do UK men and women use social media differently?

Women make up most of the UK ad audience on Pinterest, TikTok and Instagram, while men dominate on X and LinkedIn. In the last official figures, women in Great Britain were a little more likely than men to use social networking and messaging.

  1. 1 Pinterest 71.2%
  2. 2 TikTok 67.4%
  3. 3 Instagram 54.8%
  4. 4 Snapchat 53.7%
  5. 5 Facebook 52.4%
  6. 6 LinkedIn 45.7%
  7. 7 Threads 45.2%
  8. 8 X 36.7%
Female share of each platform's UK ad audience, late 2026, from the platforms' ad tools as compiled by Kepios. Pinterest is its total ad audience; Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are adult ad audiences. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • 50.5% of the UK's social media user identities were female and 49.5% male in late 2026, on Kepios's estimate. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • 52.4% of Facebook's adult ad audience in the UK was female in late 2026, against 54.8% of Instagram's. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • 67.4% of TikTok's adult ad audience in the UK was female in late 2026, on TikTok's own ad tools. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • 71.2% of Pinterest's UK ad audience was female in late 2026, 22.9% male and 5.9% unspecified. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • X's ad tools put its UK audience at 63.3% male and 36.7% female in late 2026; X infers gender, and Kepios advises caution. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • LinkedIn's UK members were 54.3% male and 45.7% female in late 2026; Threads' UK ad audience was 53.4% male and 45.2% female, and 53.7% of Snapchat's adult ad audience was female. (Kepios (Digital 2027 UK), Nov 2026)
  • 72% of women and 69% of men in Great Britain used social networking in 2020; for instant messaging such as WhatsApp the shares were 74% and 69%. (ONS (Internet access 2020, Great Britain), Aug 2020)
  • Men in Great Britain were more likely than women to watch video on sharing services such as YouTube in 2020: 72% against 61%. (ONS (Internet access 2020, Great Britain), Aug 2020)

Kepios gender shares come from each platform's ad tools, which infer or ask for gender in their own ways, and describe ad audiences, not unique people. The ONS shares are of adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain in 2020. The two are not compared.

How does social media use in the UK differ by age?

Nearly all young adults use social networking, and use falls sharply with age after 45. Platforms split by age too: Snapchat is used by most UK adults under 35 and almost none over 50.

  1. 1 16-24 97%
  2. 2 25-34 91%
  3. 3 35-44 90%
  4. 4 45-54 72%
  5. 5 55-64 58%
  6. 6 65+ 34%
Share of adults in Great Britain who used the internet for social networking in the last three months, by age, 2020, from the ONS. 2020 is the last edition of this survey. (ONS (Internet access 2020, Great Britain), Aug 2020)

The ONS figures cover adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain in 2020, the last edition, and measure use in the last three months. Pew surveyed all UK adults in spring 2026 about whether they ever use each platform, with 18-34 as its youngest age band. The two are not compared.

How many UK children use social media?

Most UK teenagers have a social media account, and many younger children use platforms below their minimum age. Almost every secondary pupil in England goes online on a mobile phone.

  1. 1 WhatsApp 79%
  2. 2 YouTube 50%
  3. 3 TikTok 44%
  4. 4 Snapchat 41%
  5. 5 Twitter 39%
  6. 6 Facebook 38%
  7. 7 Instagram 36%
Share of each platform's users aged 8-17 in England who were below its minimum age, 2022, from the Children's Commissioner for England. WhatsApp's UK minimum age was 16 at the time. (Children's Commissioner for England (Digital childhoods 2022), Sep 2022)

The Children's Commissioner's 2026 figures come from an April 2026 OnePoll online poll of 2,000 UK children aged 6-17; its 2022 figures from a nationally representative survey of 2,005 children aged 8-17 in England. The ONS figures cover children aged 10-15 in England and Wales before the pandemic, and the Department for Education's panel covers pupils in England. They are separate surveys and are not combined.

What do teenagers in England do on social media?

Most teenagers in England use social media to message friends and watch short videos, and far fewer post in public. Many say they want to scroll less, and only about a third do nothing to manage their time.

  1. 1 Send messages and make calls 92%
  2. 2 Watch short-form videos 91%
  3. 3 Share content privately 58%
  4. 4 Comment on social media 39%
  5. 5 Post publicly on social media 31%
Share of pupils in years 10-11 (about ages 14-16) in England who go online and do each activity, March 2026, from the Department for Education's pupil panel. (Department for Education (Parent, pupil and learner voice, March 2026), Mar 2026)

The Department for Education's panel is sampled from the National Pupil Database and covers pupils in England in years 7-9 (about ages 11-14) and 10-11 (about ages 14-16) who go online. The Children's Commissioner's figures come from an April 2026 online poll of UK children. The two are not compared.

What harms do UK children meet on social media?

About half of UK children say they met something harmful online in a recent two-month window, from violent content to body-image posts. Official figures from before the pandemic show online bullying was half as common as bullying in person, and most children bullied online met some of it during school time.

  1. 1 Any harm 49%
  2. 2 Violent content 12%
  3. 3 Unrealistic body types 11%
  4. 4 Hateful content 10%
Share of UK children aged 9-16 who said they experienced harm online in a recent two-month window, autumn 2025, from InternetMatters.org. (InternetMatters.org (Online Safety Act report 2026), May 2026)

InternetMatters.org surveyed 1,270 UK children aged 9-16 and their parents in September-October 2025, about the previous two months. The Children's Commissioner's 2026 figures come from an April 2026 poll and its pornography figures from a survey of 16-21-year-olds in England in May 2025. The ONS figures cover England and Wales before the pandemic. They are separate surveys and are not compared.

Are the Online Safety Act's age checks working?

Age checks are now common in the UK, but many children get around them, sometimes with a parent's help. Most adults still back the rules, and more children and parents think the online world has become safer than less safe.

  1. 1 Children: safer 42%
  2. 2 Parents: safer 39%
  3. 3 Parents: less safe 28%
  4. 4 Children: less safe 16%
Share of UK parents and children aged 9-16 who feel the online world has recently become safer or less safe for children, autumn 2025, from InternetMatters.org. (InternetMatters.org (Online Safety Act report 2026), May 2026)
  • 13% of UK children aged 9-16 have bypassed age checks by entering a fake birthdate and 9% by using someone else's login; 46% think age checks are easy to bypass and 17% difficult. (InternetMatters.org (Online Safety Act report 2026), May 2026)
  • 26% of UK parents of children aged 9-16 have allowed their child to bypass age checks: 17% actively helped and 9% allowed it or turned a blind eye. (InternetMatters.org (Online Safety Act report 2026), May 2026)
  • 53% of UK children aged 9-16 say they were recently asked to verify their age online, most often when setting up accounts; 68% of children and 67% of parents report seeing more safety measures since the Act came into force. (InternetMatters.org (Online Safety Act report 2026), May 2026)
  • Only 22% of UK parents and 31% of children aged 9-16 think the government is doing enough to protect children online. (InternetMatters.org (Online Safety Act report 2026), May 2026)
  • 75% of Britons supported age verification rules for websites with pornographic, mature or potentially harmful material in March 2026, against 80% just before the July 2025 rollout and 69% just after; 34% had come across the checks, including 67% of Gen Z men. (YouGov (age verification poll, Mar 2026), Mar 2026)
  • Under the Online Safety Act, which became law on 26 October 2023, companies can be fined up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. (DSIT (Online Safety Act explainer), Apr 2025)
  • Ofcom could enforce the Act's illegal-content duties from 17 March 2025, and services likely to be used by children had until 24 July 2025 to complete children's risk assessments. (DSIT (Online Safety Act explainer), Apr 2025)

InternetMatters.org is a UK charity funded by industry; its figures come from a panel survey of children aged 9-16 and their parents. YouGov polls adults in Great Britain online. The fine and the dates are the legal framework set out by the government, not fines actually issued.

Will the UK ban social media for under-16s?

Yes: the government has said social media companies will not be allowed to serve under-16s, and plans the first regulations by the end of 2026. Polls show wide public support, but many Britons doubt a ban will work, and children are far less keen than parents.

  1. 1 France 79%
  2. 2 Great Britain 76%
  3. 3 Germany 74%
  4. 4 Italy 70%
  5. 5 Spain 68%
  6. 6 Poland 53%
Share of adults who support banning social media for under-16s in six European countries, YouGov polling published April 2026. (YouGov (poll, Apr 2026), Apr 2026)
  • The government's consultation ran from 2 March to 26 May 2026 and drew responses from 54,000 parents and 14,000 children, as well as charities and teachers' organisations. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, progress statement), Jun 2026)
  • The government intends to lay the first regulations on age restrictions for social media services before Parliament by the end of 2026, under section 225(1)(ea) of the Online Safety Act 2023, with further regulations within 12 months. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, progress statement), Jun 2026)
  • 16- and 17-year-olds will get default protections: access restricted between midnight and 6am, push notifications muted overnight, and autoplay and personalised feeds off by default. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, government response), Jul 2026)
  • Of 9,499 parents and carers who answered the question in the full consultation, 89% supported a legal minimum age for social media, and 96% of those agreed it should be at least 16 (88% strongly). (DSIT (parental support for a minimum age of 16), Jun 2026)
  • Only 11% of parents responding to the consultation said the benefits of social media outweighed the risks, against 40% of children. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, progress statement), Jun 2026)
  • 19% of children responding backed a minimum age of 16 for all social media, but 65% of young people aged 16-21 wanted under-16s kept from at least some features designed to keep users online, and 53% wanted to restrict infinite scrolling. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, progress statement), Jun 2026)
  • 93% of parents responding were concerned about their children being contacted by strangers and 90% about the ability to send nude images and videos; 62% of children said they would feel safer if the riskiest features were restricted. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, progress statement), Jun 2026)
  • 81% of full consultation respondents said infinite scroll was particularly persuasive, followed by personalised recommendation algorithms (78%) and autoplay (70%); among children, 81% named infinite scrolling and 71% conversation streaks. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, government response), Jul 2026)
  • The share of teachers in England reporting unauthorised phone use in lessons fell from 38% in 2024 to 24% in May 2026, the government says, citing Department for Education survey data; in June 2025, 58% of pupils said phones were used when they should not be in at least some lessons. (DSIT (Growing up in the online world, government response), Jul 2026)
  • 54% of Britons expected a ban on social media for under-16s to be not very or not at all effective in April 2026, including 46% of those who support it; 37% were optimistic. (YouGov (poll, Apr 2026), Apr 2026)
  • 77% of British parents of under-18s supported a ban on social media for under-16s in June 2026 (14% opposed); 82% said social media has a negative impact on children, 38% that it has harmed their own children and 88% that social media companies need to do more. (YouGov (parents poll, Jun 2026), Jun 2026)
  • In 2022, 70% of children and 90% of parents surveyed in England said there should be a minimum age on social media platforms. (Children's Commissioner for England (Digital childhoods 2022), Sep 2022)

The consultation figures are self-selecting responses, and DSIT says they are not representative of parents nationally. YouGov polls are online polls of adults in Great Britain weighted to be representative, and the Children's Commissioner's 2022 survey was representative of children in England. The policy dates are the government's stated plans.

How many people in the UK get news on social media?

Fewer people in the UK use social media for news than in most countries, and the BBC has very high reach there. Facebook is the biggest social network for news, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp all gained in 2026, and X lost ground.

  1. 1 Facebook 21%
  2. 2 YouTube 16%
  3. 3 WhatsApp 12%
  4. 4 Instagram 12%
  5. 5 X 10%
  6. 6 TikTok 7%
Share of online adults in the UK who used each network for news in the past week, 2026, from the Reuters Institute. (Reuters Institute (Digital News Report 2026), Jun 2026)

Reuters Institute figures come from a YouGov online panel of about 2,000 adults in the UK, so they may overstate online use; they are survey recall, not measured reach. The weekly any-purpose shares are not compared with GWI's past-month shares or with ad reach. The 48-market figures are averages across all countries surveyed, not UK figures.

What do people in the UK think social media does to politics?

Opinion in the UK has turned against social media's effect on democracy since 2022. Large majorities say it makes people more divided and easier to manipulate, though most also say it keeps people informed, and young adults are far more positive than older ones.

  1. 1 Easier to manipulate 91%
  2. 2 More divided 79%
  3. 3 More informed 77%
  4. 4 More of a voice in politics 53%
Share of UK adults who say the internet and social media have made people each of the following, spring 2026, from Pew Research Center. (Pew Research Center (Spring 2026 survey), Oct 2026)
  • 41% of UK adults said in spring 2026 that social media has been a good thing for democracy, down from 50% in 2022. (Pew Research Center (Spring 2026 survey), Oct 2026)
  • 60% of UK adults aged 18-34 say social media's effect on democracy has been good, against 31% of those aged 50 and older; in the US the shares are 44% and 28%. (Pew Research Center (Spring 2026 survey), Oct 2026)
  • 79% of UK adults say the internet and social media have made people more divided in their political opinions, up from 66% in 2022. (Pew Research Center (Spring 2026 survey), Oct 2026)
  • 91% of UK adults say the internet and social media have made people easier to manipulate with false information and rumours, against 89% in 2022. (Pew Research Center (Spring 2026 survey), Oct 2026)
  • 77% of UK adults say the internet and social media have made people more informed about current events (73% in 2022), and 53% say they have given people more of a meaningful voice in politics. (Pew Research Center (Spring 2026 survey), Oct 2026)

Pew's Global Attitudes Survey is a nationally representative survey of UK adults. Its questions on democracy differ from the Reuters Institute's questions on trust in news, and the two are not compared.

How many UK scams start on social media?

Most authorised push payment scams in the UK now start online, on social media, marketplaces and websites. Purchase scams are the most common, while investment scams pushed through fake adverts and posts cost the most.

84,292 2020 99,733 2021 117,170 2022 156,516 2023 166,798 2024 175,809 2025
View data table
UK purchase scam cases reported by banks, 2020-2025, from UK Finance. Cases have risen every year since 2020.
PeriodValue
202084,292
202199,733
2022117,170
2023156,516
2024166,798
2025175,809
UK purchase scam cases reported by banks, 2020-2025, from UK Finance. Cases have risen every year since 2020. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)
  • Online-enabled cases made up 32% of UK authorised push payment fraud losses in 2025, while telecoms enabled 17% of cases and 28% of losses. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)
  • The online share of UK authorised push payment fraud cases was 78% in 2022, 76% in 2023 and 70% in 2024. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)
  • UK purchase scams, which usually start on auction sites or social media, reached a record 175,809 cases and £118.1 million in losses in 2025, up 5% and 20%, and made up 71% of all authorised push payment scam cases. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)
  • UK investment scams rose to 14,893 cases in 2025 (+26%), with losses up 40%, and made up 38% of all authorised push payment scam losses. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)
  • UK investment scam losses were £109.4 million in 2020, £171.7 million in 2021, £114.1 million in 2022, £107.8 million in 2023 and £158.1 million in 2024. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)
  • UK romance scams, often started through social media or dating sites, reached a record 6,335 cases and £39.2 million in losses in 2025, up 22% and 23%, the fifth rise in cases in a row; victims made 9.7 payments per scam on average. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)
  • Criminals stole £1.28 billion through payment fraud of all kinds in the UK in 2025 (up 4%), while banks prevented £1.68 billion of unauthorised fraud, 70p in every £1 attempted; on average eight people were defrauded every minute. (UK Finance (Annual Fraud Report 2026), Jun 2026)

UK Finance counts bank-reported cases. Its "online" category covers social media, marketplaces, websites and dating apps together and does not split out social media, and enabler shares are based on the subset of cases where the source was recorded. Payment fraud totals cover every route, of which social media is one.

How much is spent on social media advertising in the UK?

Social media is now about a quarter of all UK advertising, and AA/WARC forecasts it to be one of the fastest-growing channels in 2026. Two producers measure it, the Advertising Association with WARC and IAB UK, on different bases, so their totals are given separately.

  • UK social media advertising investment grew 21.0% in 2025 and made up 24.7% of the £46.7 billion UK advertising total, on the AA/WARC count, which includes YouTube; in April 2026 AA/WARC forecast 14.5% growth for 2026. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, Apr 2026), Apr 2026)
  • UK social media advertising investment grew 22.2% year on year in Q2 2026. (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, Oct 2026), Oct 2026)
  • In October 2026 AA/WARC forecast that UK social media advertising will grow 20.7% in 2026, second only to retail media (23.0%). (AA/WARC (Expenditure Report, Oct 2026), Oct 2026)
  • UK social media ad spend rose 21% to £11.5bn in 2025, 28% of a £40.5 billion UK digital ad market, on IAB UK's estimate with Oliver Wyman. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • Video made up 59% of UK social media ad investment in 2025, IAB UK says. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)
  • IAB UK forecasts the UK digital ad market to grow 10.3% to £44.7 billion in 2026 and reach £49.1 billion by 2027. (IAB UK (Digital Adspend 2025), Mar 2026)

AA/WARC measures all UK advertising and, from April 2026, counts ads on social platforms including YouTube; IAB UK measures the digital market only. The two are different producers with different definitions and are not used to confirm each other, averaged or charted together. Figures for 2026 and 2027 are forecasts.

What do the platforms say about their UK users?

Platforms publish their own UK user counts, economic studies and enforcement figures. Each uses its own definitions and dates, so these are the companies' claims, not independent measures, and they are not compared with surveys or ad reach.

  1. 1 Pakistan 23.2m
  2. 2 Bangladesh 14.8m
  3. 3 Indonesia 12.2m
  4. 4 Vietnam 7.5m
  5. 5 United Kingdom 3.4m
  6. 6 Germany 2.6m
  7. 7 France 1.7m
Videos TikTok removed by market, April-June 2026, in millions, from TikTok's own enforcement report. Removals reflect both the size of the user base and how much is enforced. (TikTok (Community Guidelines Enforcement Report Q2 2026), Oct 2026)
  • TikTok says more than 30 million people in the UK use it each month, counting average monthly active recipients from January to March 2025. (TikTok (company announcement, Jun 2025), Jun 2025)
  • TikTok said in June 2025 that more than 1.5 million UK businesses are on TikTok, that its UK workforce would grow to 3,000 that year, and that an Oxford Economics study found UK SMEs on TikTok added £1.6 billion to the economy and supported 32,000 jobs. (TikTok (company announcement, Jun 2025), Jun 2025)
  • A Public First study commissioned by TikTok estimates TikTok contributed at least £10 billion to the UK economy in 2025 and supported 153,000 jobs. (TikTok (company announcement, Jul 2026), Jul 2026)
  • TikTok says over 300,000 small businesses sell on TikTok Shop UK and about 8 million people in the UK post regularly without being full-time creators or businesses. (TikTok (company announcement, Jul 2026), Jul 2026)
  • TikTok Shop UK said its Black Friday 2025 sales were up 45% year on year, the full Black Friday to Cyber Monday window beat 2024 by 50%, and the number of sellers making sales rose 85%. (TikTok (company announcement, Dec 2025), Dec 2025)
  • X's UK account claimed 10 million daily active users, 21 million monthly active users and 15 billion daily user seconds in the UK in November 2024, without stating a method. (X (XUK post, Nov 2024), Nov 2024)
  • Snap said in May 2023 that Snapchat reached 90% of 13-24-year-olds and 75% of 13-34-year-olds in the UK, and that over 45% of UK Snapchatters were 25 or older. (Snap Inc. (company announcement, May 2023), May 2023)
  • Research by Oxford Economics for YouTube found its creative ecosystem contributed over £2.8 billion to UK GDP and supported more than 60,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2025. (YouTube (Impact Report UK 2025), Aug 2026)
  • Meta began expanding Threads ads to the UK, the EU and Brazil in January 2026. (Meta Platforms (Q4 2025 earnings call), Jan 2026)
  • UK job postings needing AI engineering skills grew 37% year on year, against 54% in India, LinkedIn's research found. (LinkedIn (AI Labor Market Update, Jan 2026), Jan 2026)
  • YouTube removed 149,372 videos uploaded from the UK in Q2 2026, 12th of any country, against 86,555 from Germany; removals are counted by the uploader's IP address. (Google (YouTube transparency report), 2026)
  • The UK made 12,788 information requests to Snap in the first half of 2026, plus 2,983 emergency disclosure requests, against 10,402 from France and 7,279 from Germany. (Snap Inc. (government requests H1 2026), 2026)
  • The UK sent TikTok 2,902 legal requests for user data in July to December 2025, third behind Germany (5,109) and the US (4,586). (TikTok (information requests report H2 2025), Jun 2026)
  • The UK government banned TikTok on government corporate devices in all departments from 16 March 2023; the ban does not cover personal devices of staff, ministers or the public. (GOV.UK (Cabinet Office), Mar 2023)

All figures in this section are the companies' own. TikTok's 30 million is monthly active recipients of all ages from 13, X's and Snap's user claims give no method, and the economic studies were commissioned by the platforms with different scopes. None is compared with Kepios ad reach, survey shares or each other. Removal and request counts depend on how many people use each service as well as on enforcement.

Glossary

Kepios
The research firm behind the Digital reports published on DataReportal, which compile ad reach from platforms' tools and model user identities.
User identities
Kepios's modelled estimate of social media users, based largely on ad audiences. It may not equal unique people.
Ad reach
The audience advertisers can target with a platform's ads, from its own ad tools. It is not a count of unique or active users.
GWI
A commercial online survey of internet users aged 16 and over, here as published in Kepios's Digital 2027 UK report.
ONS
The Office for National Statistics. Its internet access survey covered adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain and was last published in 2020.
DSIT
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which ran the 2026 "Growing up in the online world" consultation.
Online Safety Act
The 2023 UK law that requires online services to protect users from illegal content and children from harmful content, enforced by Ofcom.
Ofcom
The UK communications regulator, which enforces the Online Safety Act.
Children's Commissioner for England
The statutory office that speaks for children in England and commissions surveys of children and young people.
APP fraud
Authorised push payment fraud: a victim is tricked into sending a payment to a criminal.
AA/WARC
The Advertising Association and WARC, whose Expenditure Report measures all UK advertising investment.
IAB UK
The Internet Advertising Bureau UK, which publishes its own estimate of the UK digital advertising market with Oliver Wyman.
Monthly active recipients
A count platforms such as TikTok use for users in a period, averaged over months. Each company defines it its own way.
School years
In England, years 7-9 are about ages 11-14 and years 10-11 about ages 14-16.
SEND
Special educational needs and disabilities.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from Kepios's Digital 2027 UK report and country pages, the GWI survey published in it, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, Pew Research Center, ONS official statistics, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Department for Education, the Children's Commissioner for England, InternetMatters.org, YouGov, UK Finance, the Advertising Association with WARC, IAB UK and the platforms' own announcements and reports. Each figure links to the body that published it, with the date. Ad reach and user identities, survey shares, official statistics, consultation responses, bank-reported fraud and company claims measure different things: they are kept apart, never added together, and never compared with each other. Kepios revises its bases between editions, so its figures come from the latest edition and are not built into trends across editions. Every figure states its ages, base, place and year, and only figures checked on the publisher's own page are used. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.