Some countries however, have more online presence due to factors like cheaper data, more advanced infrastructure, lightning fast internet speed, a better internet adoption rate as well as a strong economic standing.
The Social Media Engagement Index (SME Index) segments audiences using detailed profiling that includes demographics, behaviour, attitudes and usage of social media users.
Using data from about 45 countries, the index measures a consumer's participation on social media using a score with specific interest on how often they create or upload content and their level of engagements with brands via these platforms either to review products, like a brand or upload content to brand sites.
These 10 countries in the table have been listed as the countries with the highest Social Media Engagement Index using the method above:
| S/N | Country | SME Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 97.9 |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 89.3 |
| 3 | United States | 76.3 |
| 4 | India | 75.6 |
| 5 | Indonesia, | 68.9 |
| 6 | South Africa | 65.8 |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia | 63.8 |
| 8 | Chile | 62.3 |
| 9 | Mexico | 61 |
| 10 | Malaysia | 59.9 |
China took the first place with a score of 97.9, a feat backed by the country's massive user base. The list also boasts of more Asian countries showing a deep and stronger internet and mobile penetration in the region.
According to Datareportal, the number of unique individual mobile phone users globally stood at 5.68 billion at the end of June 2024 showing that about 70% of the world’s population had access to, and owned a mobile phone.
This sharply contrasts to the number of internet users as at 2000 (Just 361 million) indicating the fast growth of internet adoption globally.
With growing populations in various countries, a corresponding surge in the number of internet users is anticipated, meanwhile, Africa’s growing internet adoption is expected to lead to greater online accessibility and connectivity for its citizens.