India overtakes U.S. to become Facebook’s No. 1 country
![](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/Facebook-usage_Fs6vHiPwDl_acnr2krxudrc1iqid11dwkchfxob4hgewe9y5efniczsu0i9vtz9hia8vopb.jpg)
The latest figures that Facebook is reporting to advertisers indicate that India has overtaken the United States to become the platform’s largest country audience.
As of July 13, Facebook is reporting a total “potential audience” of 241 million active users in India, compared with 240 million in the United States.
The change at the top of the platform’s country rankings comes just a few days after Facebook announced it has more than 2 billion monthly users around the world.
Facebook has achieved impressive growth in both countries since the start of 2017, but these new figures suggest that active users in India are growing more than twice as fast as they are in the United States.
Active users in India are up 27 percent in the past six months alone (+50 million), compared with growth of 12 percent (+26 million) in the United States over the same period.
Despite these strong gains, social media penetration in India remains relatively low, with just 19 percent of the country’s total population using Facebook in the past month. That compares to 73 percent penetration in the United States, and a global average of around 42 percent.
It’s worth noting that the numbers Facebook reports to advertisers can change on a daily basis though, and the platform even reported a slight dip in global user numbers just before it announced its two billion active user milestone.
I’ve also noticed a few discrepancies in the numbers that Facebook reports for the same audiences across different parts of its advertising tool too, and some of these numbers don’t always make sense when compared to real-world populations either.
Despite these caveats, I’ve been tracking active user numbers for the United States and India for a few months now, and this change at the top of the country rankings is consistent with growth trends for the past six months.
Audience imbalance
Sadly, these rapid gains have done little to address the gender imbalance in India’s Facebook audience, and the ratio hasn’t improved since our Global Digital report in January
Men still represent three-quarters of the country’s active Facebook profiles, although it’s worth noting that this represents reported gender – a topic we explored in more detail in this piece on Facebook’s demographics a few weeks ago.
Facebook’s gender imbalance in India is in stark contrast to its US audience, where 54 percent of the platform’s active users are women.
Facebook’s active users in India also skew young, with more than half of the country’s users below the age of 25.
![OPPO A3 hits Nepali market](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/oppo_2cZvbhyprR_tufensbzslpwxr54a8p0hhcpxoecszfvkbhvlnruma5uz1gaproumyrqkkzm_kBMpPkYHOC_h5td1fynakdjnp7zvp6r0wslcqorlypfs4wuzobg1ylzqfmwo9m0dlclakgv.jpg)
OPPO A3 hits Nepali market
![Namaste Pay partners with Nabil Bank for seamless fund loading](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/mou_3payv4yf1q_ypf0j7oanf9bqndl11y6xfjeiboczcdc0vmcpoemtrlysbcjobzms6irr3i8_qLbVczT912_mal1qnt8myudy4bsaftalkamhhk4vjomxtw7dodo1bjf4zez7vhltpuwivsd.jpg)
Namaste Pay partners with Nabil Bank for seamless fund loading
![Ncell introduces Lionsgate Play to ‘Biz Sadhain ONÚ customers](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/NCELL_rB4mbsyQ7B_mtli6jonjy3cek7cn49wlrgxl87eu8gklkjautit3uecdbu6ymwt9spg22jj_5ATKOHlNbd_nq39cljezukzwpvzngaicqhcpyvgsmhgicknvctz4vjwbzswz9vqxow6reor.jpg)
Ncell introduces Lionsgate Play to ‘Biz Sadhain ONÚ customers
![BYD inaugurates new service center, reinaugurates old one](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/byd_VI3TgwAqOk_fb48x30797rapvtaeitbn42y4zdngkhpd1mnlzzc7h7y4agef7w0bz0aghem_XPYJNwb4RJ_qvkxaxculf66ww0vz1sqogebymaisnbzt5omylibyups6j25bqojlxt08pmr.jpeg)
BYD inaugurates new service center, reinaugurates old one
![Production units of AION EV crosses 1 million mark](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/aion_CArVMwug0q_lgwy6wu4cpen7p5h5zot0zh7gnmvisfturb3eoyez0pnopbv10fcl0wpwiyt_dwzTtuNDAg_hcz63oqaheogfutzqxunv126b8y3wytyt7zbttywemxztkknteaocy75qzr5.jpg)
Production units of AION EV crosses 1 million mark
![Fonepay's flagship campaign](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/fone_eIPgyqLopB_3eiqkzv8drz2a3gbzlgoeo7ecgzxcov22sztqf0ulfywhptumpudtoraaowy_MVtxELh1NT_ter7lrvtzy2ihtw7jkvyumqljwulzrcghb1cestwvtxveftyigcq9dykt9qz.png)
Fonepay's flagship campaign
![Online nominations for 9th ICT Awards open from today](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/ICT%2520Award%25202024_Logo-01_M4FxgwjQhp_ulxcygashedobsd7yiaabvqyrdurlcbeyhiumx3zrhffyddnxdexzlyicvhi_oaU3rqkjdR_xnab6byrwnseamgse71wfs1xgodohsvbtclhah4pcjys3uhmp2dtvxninn8c.png)
Online nominations for 9th ICT Awards open from today
![Noor Dubai Foundation launches tele-ophthalmology scheme in Nepal](https://snowberry.prixacdn.net/media/gallery_folder/tele_WTfuUkIQNZ_yol51hvkn21ggcxpdamdvdxeumpqv8qekj1prlbt3ndqwo0jmm61ifbi6dyc_oN2iUbuTo6_3vxrv8apdqfplpz5dycctrgujqf1fwnbfrah56szvtgimbxoytjlkofk1dmo.webp)