Nearly 12.5m users stop using Facebook in Bangladesh in last six months

The numbers of Facebook users have dropped significantly in Bangladesh in the last six months though Meta recently ranked the country third in terms of active users.    

According to the Poland-based platform, NapoleonCat, the month of July in 2022 drew the highest numbers of Facebook users in Bangladesh, at approximately 58,943,000, which dipped gradually to around 46,548,000 six months later in January this year. That means Facebook lost nearly 12,395,000 account holders from Bangladesh in a span of six months.  

The platform, which analyses social media performance, says about 26.6 per cent of the country’s total population uses Facebook in Bangladesh. Of them, the proportion of male users is around 68 per cent while youths -- between the ages of 18 and 24 -- are the highest Facebook users, at 44 per cent, in terms of age.     

Another online data analysis platform, DataReportal, claims the numbers of Facebook users are declining in Bangladesh, adding that the numbers of people, reached by different advertisers on Facebook, decreased by 3.7 million between October last and January this year.     

Not only are Facebook users on the decrease, but Instagram, LinkedIn and Messengers also have lost their users gradually in the country in the last six months. According to NapoleonCat, a total of 670,000 account holders stopped scrolling down Instagram while the figure is 10,141,000 for Messenger and approximately 3.8 million for LinkedIn.

According to the platform, more than 5 million people used the professional site, LinkedIn, in Bangladesh in December last year, which decreased significantly to 1.8 million January this year.  

Saying the trend is subject to change, Professor BM Mainul Hossain of information technology institute of Dhaka University (DU), told Prothom Alo that now there are many social media and OTT platforms, including TikTok, for people's entertainment and recreation. Apart from uploading status, people can engage in many activities there.

Due to these reasons, the usage of services offered by the Meta might decrease in the country, he added.  

* This report appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by NH Sajjad