Facing Further Employee Layoffs, What is the Global Distribution of Facebook Users?

Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., is reportedly planning another round of layoffs in the near future. The startup previously laid off 11,000 employees, or 13% of its workforce, in November 2022.

"Facebook's parent company is delaying the completion of budgets for several teams as it prepares for a new round of layoffs," two Meta employees told the Financial Times, as quoted by Katadata from Reuters on Sunday (February 12).

This news is surprising, considering Meta Platforms Inc. is among the world's giant technology companies, with applications widely used globally, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus.

Aside from the layoffs, what is the number and distribution of Facebook users worldwide?

Data from Engadget Masthead, sourced from Meta, shows that Facebook had over 2 billion daily users in 2022. This data is divided into four quarters (Q1-Q4) during 2021-2022 across four regions: the United States and Canada, Europe, Asia Pacific, and other regions covering almost the entire world.

Of these four regions, the US and Canada have relatively stable Facebook user numbers, ranging from 195-196 million. Despite fluctuations, this region saw a significant increase of 2 million users in Q3-Q4 2022, from 197 million to 199 million users.

Europe, on the other hand, experienced a significant drop in users in Q1-Q2 2022. Q1 saw 307 million users, dropping to 303 million in Q2. However, European users consistently remained above 300 million.

The Asia Pacific region is the only region with the highest number of users, consistently increasing. It had 760 million users in Q1 2021 and reached 805 million in Q3 2022. After Q3 2022, the number consistently stayed above 800 million users.

In fact, within Mark Zuckerberg's platform group, not only Facebook but also WhatsApp has reached over 2 billion daily users.

"This shows that the company's largest source of advertising revenue is still growing, even as Meta has made significant cuts to its business in recent months," wrote Karissa Bell, an Engadget writer, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

The following shows the distribution and number of daily Facebook users:

* Q1 2021: 1,878 million
* US and Canada: 195 million
* Europe: 309 million
* Asia Pacific: 760 million
* Others (world): 613 million

* Q2 2021: 1,908 million
* US and Canada: 195 million
* Europe: 307 million
* Asia Pacific: 788 million
* Others (world): 618 million

* Q3 2021: 1,930 million
* US and Canada: 196 million
* Europe: 308 million
* Asia Pacific: 805 million
* Others (world): 622 million

* Q4 2021: 1,929 million
* US and Canada: 195 million
* Europe: 309 million
* Asia Pacific: 806 million
* Others (world): 619 million

* Q1 2022: 1,960 million
* US and Canada: 196 million
* Europe: 307 million
* Asia Pacific: 827 million
* Others (world): 629 million

* Q2 2022: 1,968 million
* US and Canada: 197 million
* Europe: 303 million
* Asia Pacific: 836 million
* Others (world): 631 million

* Q3 2022: 1,984 million
* US and Canada: 197 million
* Europe: 303 million
* Asia Pacific: 845 million
* Others (world): 638 million

* Q4 2022: 2,000 million
* US and Canada: 199 million
* Europe: 304 million
* Asia Pacific: 854 million
* Others (world): 643 million