- Nearly half of Arab social media users are under 24 years old, and the majority are male. The key languages used on social media in Arab countries are English and Arabic. - Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform in the Arab world, used by 94% of social media users, followed by Twitter at 62%. Top discussion topics on social media are politics, sports, and travel/tourism. - Online shopping is growing, with the top purchases being beauty/health, food/drinks, and books/magazines. However, over 50% of Arab online shoppers prefer to pay with cash on delivery instead of credit cards.

1. Arab social media usage

2. Arab Social Media Usage Demographics
Age-groups, Demographics & Language:
•
•
•
The major share of social media users in the Middle East are male
Nearly half (45%) of all users are under 24
The key languages used are English and Arabic with English comprising over half of all content
40%
36%
35%
Age
32%
3%
30%
5%
25%
Male
35%
Female
60%
NA
English
40%
20%
15%
10%
11%
9%
12%
5%
0%
Source: World Bank, Aug 2013
Arabic
57%
16-17
18-24
25-34 35-44
44+
Others

3. Language preference in Arabic speaking markets
Country
Population
Facebook
Population
Arabic Profiles on
Facebook
% of Arabic Users
Egypt
84,605,000
16,800,000
11,160,000
66%
Iraq
35,404,000
5,000,000
3,800,000
76%
Kingdom of Saudi
30,194,000
7,600,000
3,800,000
50%
Arabia
Yemen
25,252,000
1,660,000
1,020,000
61%
United Arab
8,660,000
4,200,000
740,000
18%
Emirates
Jordan
6,517,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
67%
Lebanon
4,228,000
1,880,000
500,000
27%
Oman
3,942,000
820,000
360,000
44%
Kuwait
3,852,000
1,220,000
380,000
31%
Qatar
1,917,000
900,000
186,000
21%
Bahrain
1,560,000
500,000
124,000
25%
Libya
6,155,000
1,300,000
1,060,000
82%
Tunisia
10,734,000
4,200,000
680,000
16%
Algeria
38,520,000
5,800,000
1,780,000
31%
Morocco
32,520,000
6,400,000
1,860,000
29%
Potential target market – 29,450,000 (Total No. of Arabic profiles) = 48% of total Facebook users in Arabic
speaking countries
•
Half the Facebook population of majority Arabic speaking countries choose to use non-Arabic
language profiles
Source: Facebook.com, Oct 2013

4. Percentage of Social Networks used in Arab World
Social Media Portals:
•
•
•
•
The majority of the community uses Facebook (94%)
followed by Twitter (62%)
Google+ saw a 200% increase in G+ accounts due to
the fact that it comes along with gmail but in terms of
activity it’s nil compared to other active channels such
as Facebook & Twitter
Facebook
94%
Twitter
62%
LinkedIn
LinkedIn has good contribution on the professional
end but most users come from UAE
Google+
Instagram is booming at +5% per day as a social
network in MENA region. Etihad’s Instagram activity
proves it with usage from 5% to 35% in 2 months of
launch
42%
Instagram
38%
% of Users
15%
The ‘Others’ channels consists of not so frequently
used Social Media portals such as forums, blog sites.
For eg.: dudu, Shablol, etc.
4%
Tumblr
3%
Others
•
Pinterest
2%
0%
Source: Socialbakers.com, Aug 2013
20%
40% 60% 80% 100%

5. Top Discussed Subjects
Social Media behavior :
•
The top discussed subjects in Arabic across all social media platforms and forums are:
12%
Music & Movies
General discussion on live
concerts and new movie
releases
Equally split between interest in
global and regional artists
44%
Politics
Arab Spring
Syria
Sports
Football remains the most
discussed sport
Travel &
Tourism
Places around UAE, then ME,
then Worldwide
(predominantly on forums)
Source: Socialbakers.com, Aug 2013
Egypt
6%
9%
Libya

6. E-commerce Survey
E-commerce behavior :
•
31%
Female
Top online buys:
69%
Male
28%
17%
15%
14%
Average age of people
shopping online
When first buying
(all products)
online
39%
61%
Have
experience
53%
Beauty & Health
Food & Drinks
41%
•
Online travel booking accounts for only 14%
of Arabic speakers overall activity book their
travel online (compared to 24% of the global
average)
The other buys indicates the industries and
portals which can be used as a promoting
platform.
•
31% of the research and buying is done by
females as compared to 69% by males.
35+
26 - 35
16 - 25
52%
Source: IPSOS MENA
Books & Magazines
•
31%
Research
before
buying
Travel
10% 9% 7% 5%
Music & Movies
Home Appliances
31%
Electronics
Clothes
Top Buys
Computer Software
Under 16

7. Credit Card Usage
Credit Card Purchase growth rate:
•
The average spending on online shopping:
Between
$100 $1000
29%
Less than
$100
When first buying
online
5%
1%
Cash on
Delivery
53%
Debit Card
PayPal
Others
Source: IPSOS MENA
•
The majority of all online transactions in MENA are under
$100
•
While it’s clear that even at online purchase, over 50% of
users prefer to pay it as ‘Cash On Delivery’
•
One in every 3 users purchase goods/ services once a
month
•
The average online purchase for Etihad is $1,280 (Q3 2013)
Credit Card
12%
29%
Users
71%