The number of active social media users in Kenya grew at a slower pace of 15.9 percent in 2024, compared to a 38.2 percent jump recorded in the previous year, new data shows, an indication the country is edging towards saturation in terms of adoption.
The Digital 2025 Local Country Headlines Report, published by global insights platform Datareportal, shows that Kenya added 2.1 million new social media accounts in the year to February this year, bringing the total number to 15.1 million, compared to 3.6 million accounts added the prior year.
This was despite the pace of growth in the number of internet users in the country picking up marginally to a record 527,000 new users, up from 445,000 onboarded a year earlier.
The data indicates that as of last month, the total active social media users accounted for 26.5 percent of the country’s overall population, up from 23.5 percent the previous year.
“Social media user identities may not represent unique individuals,” notes Datareportal in the report.
Cellular mobile connections grew at a faster pace of 3.5 percent during the period under review to hit 68.8 million, up from a 2.8 percent growth the previous year, which had brought the number to 66.04 million.
The latest connections figures put penetration at 121 percent, up from 118.7 percent in the preceding reporting period.
Elsewhere, a fresh report from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that at the end of December last year, Meta-owned Facebook remained the most popular social media platform in the country with 57.1 percent, followed by WhatsApp at 54.4 percent.
These were followed by TikTok at 29.5 percent, and YouTube at 26.2 percent, while Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) enjoyed 12.9 percent and 12.2 percent popularity rates respectively.
“Facebook and WhatsApp are the most popular social media platforms in Kenya, followed by TikTok and YouTube in third and fourth place. The frequent mention of Facebook and WhatsApp shows how widely they are used and how influential they are in Kenya's digital space,” noted CA in its latest Audience Measurement and Industry Trends report.
“Social media is mainly accessed via mobile phones and remains a key component of media consumption.”
