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India remains a high-stakes arena. With TikTok out of the picture, Instagram has become a core platform for reaching younger internet users鈥攑articularly important for brands investing in creator-led and visual storytelling. Instagram鈥檚 presence in Japan is also notable.

The Asia-Pacific coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan.

According to a Rakuten Insight survey, 65% of internet users in South Korea shop both online and in-store during the holiday shopping season. But respondents who solely shop online (25%) eclipse those who buy only in-store (10%). The online shopping craze has ushered in a variety of shopping events in India.

Nearly 2 in 5 internet users in both Latin America and the Middle East and Africa will use TikTok at least once a month this year, per our forecast. In North America, more than 1 in 3 will use the platform monthly. Asia-Pacific lags well behind every other region we track in terms of TikTok user penetration, but that鈥檚 largely because the platform is blocked in India.

Only Nigeria and India will see noteworthy increases this year. Click here to view our full forecast for social network user growth, by country. TikTok will cross 1 billion users this year, but Meta鈥檚 platforms remain dominant. Almost 44% of internet users worldwide will be Facebook users this year.

India will be the highlight once again in 2025, notably outperforming across total retail and ecommerce. Furthermore, if we segment the world into its major economic geographies, India will top the growth list in both columns. The Middle East and Africa is also expected to stand out. Click here to view our full forecast for total retail sales growth, by region and country.

The Asia-Pacific retail ecommerce sector is both dynamic and volatile. While China and Japan are slowing, South Korea is growing rapidly, and emerging markets like Southeast Asia and India are showing robust growth and untapped potential.

Almost half (48.3%) of the world and 81.7% of all internet users are already on social media, according to our forecast. Growth has slowed significantly and is highest in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Snapchat is growing in India, with an expected 183.6 million users this year, largely as a result of the country鈥檚 TikTok ban.

Growth of total media ad spend in Southeast Asia will remain elevated from its pre-pandemic levels, but digital ad spending will finally say farewell to double-digit growth this year. Meanwhile, India will top the worldwide ranking in both total media and digital ad spending growth.

The market is growing in India and Southeast Asia. The populations of India and Southeast Asia are growing and are proportionally younger than those of their neighbors to the east. India and Thailand have the fastest-growing pet care markets (including food and products) in Asia-Pacific, with CAGRs of 9.4% and 8.7%, respectively, between 2024 and 2029, per Euromonitor.

The top five countries for social media penetration among internet users will be in Asia鈥攖he Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. In the Philippines, 98.6% of internet users will be on social this year, 11.6 percentage points higher than the regional average. Social media usage in Asia-Pacific is unique.

Live shopping faces an uncertain future in India and Japan. More than 61% of digital buyers in India said they are interested in live shopping if the featured products interest them (in part because of its capability to enable communication and possibly bargain with sellers), according to a recent survey by social media platform LocalCircles.

Time spent with all media formats in other major markets鈥攊ncluding Asia-Pacific (including India and Hong Kong), Southeast Asia (including the Philippines and Thailand), Western Europe (including Italy and Spain), and Latin America (including Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico)鈥攈ave either remained the same or declined YoY. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no need for panic,鈥� Mander said.

In India, TikTok was banned in 2020, leading to a higher rate of penetration for Snapchat. Additionally, the penetration rate for social users in India is relatively low due to the country鈥檚 more rural population and slower adoption of devices with internet connectivity. Social users in India will grow 6.9% in 2023, outpacing the region as a whole by a wide margin.