Facebook in the Middle East and North Africa announced that as of September 30, 2015, the social network giant had 114 million monthly active users in the region. Of those, 102 million access the site through mobile devices. Facebook also said that across the MENA region, almost 60% of people come back to Facebook every day and 90% do so on mobile.
Facebook recently launched Slideshow, a new lightweight video ad made from a series of still images, which is easy for advertisers to use and is engaging for people. Formats like this will be particularly beneficial in countries in the MENA region which have varying connectivity speeds and limited access to modern video technology.
For 2014, the UAE was the fastest growing country globally with a 138% year on year increase in video posts per person compared to the global average of 75%.
People in the MENA region are unique – the shift to mobile has happened here and the shift to visual communications is well on its way. People across the Middle East and North Africa are quick to adopt new trends and content formats, use Facebook to discover new things, and share stories which get amplified across the region and beyond, to the Arabic diaspora around the world, said Nicola Mendelsohn, Vice President, EMEA at Facebook.
The MENA region loves video, and while the rest of the world are adopting visual content, people here are leading the way which is indicative of the creativity flowing in this region. It is inspiring to see a large number of content creators, entrepreneurs and established brands choosing Facebook to tell stories creatively, particularly through video, setting benchmarks for the rest of the world, she continued.
75% of video views of users around the world are on mobile. In the UAE, 50% of daily Facebook users watch at least one video a day. Facebook and Instagram, together have the highest reach than any other platform on mobile in the UAE at 76% and in KSA at 71%. The total daily time spent on mobile in the UAE (55%) and KSA (38%) continues to be dominated by Facebook.
Source: Facebook MENA
