Nine in 10 Latin American Social Networkers Use Facebook

Latin America will add nearly 100 million people to its social network user audience between now and the end of 2017, according to eMarketer’s latest estimates.

This year, the region boasts 196.1 million social network users, who log in to social sites at least monthly from any electronic device. More than a third of those users are in Brazil, which will lose some share over the forecast period as social networking populations in other countries grow more quickly. Argentina is also expected to grow slightly slower than the average, while Mexico will gain 1.5 percentage points in share.

Penetration of overall populations remains lower than in more mature markets like North America or Western Europe. Of the three countries eMarketer forecasts, Argentina has the highest penetration of social networking throughout its entire population, at 40.9%. Compare that figure to the Netherlands or Norway, where social networks reach more than six in 10 residents. Among internet users, however, penetration is very high, at nearly two-thirds for the region as a whole.

Facebook dominates the social networking landscape; more than nine in 10 Latin American social networking users uses the site. And with Facebook growth averaging higher than overall social networking growth in the region, that dominance is only set to solidify.

eMarketer bases all of our forecasts on a multipronged approach that focuses on both worldwide and local trends in the economy, technology and population along with company-, product-, country- and demographic-specific trends as well as trends in specific consumer behaviors. We analyze quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of research firms, government agencies, media outlets and company reports, weighting each piece of information based on methodology and soundness.

Additionally, every element of each eMarketer forecast fits within the larger matrix of all our forecasts, with the same assumptions and general framework used to project figures in a wide variety of areas. Regular re-evaluation of each forecast means those assumptions and framework are constantly updated to reflect new market developments and other trends.

Courtesy of eMarketer