Social Media

Social Media in Israel - 2023 Stats & Platform Trends

Last Updated: February 2, 2023
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Welcome! Here at OOSGA, we've combined insights from our partners across various markets and our own hands-on experience to bring you this brief. If you are interested in partnering with us on social media marketing & research within Israel, let us know!

Outlook

How does social media look like in Israel?

Both the internet penetration rate and cellular subscription rate in Israel are some of the highest figures in the world, yet its social media usage rate are little bit lower comparing with other OECD peers. It’s not only the usage rate though. According to data from GWI, on average, Israel spend less time on social media and typically have lower accounts per user.

Despite that, social media is still quite prevalent in the country with about 79% of the population being active users according to the latest survey from 2022. The exceptions to this are a small percentage of extremely conservative Jews and Arabs, most Haredi Judaism, as well as those without internet access.

There are proposed regulations similar to the one imposed in Turkey being considered, but they are still a few years away and are unlikely to have a significant impact on most social media usage.

The pandemic has led to an increase in the number of new ways in which social media is being used in Israel. People are now relying more on social media in their daily lives for things like engaging with government officials and businesses, making purchases, and even communicating with their doctors through WhatsApp, as seen in the latest project launched by Clalit Health Services.

Table of Contents
Internet Population|% of Population
Mobile cellular subscriptions|Per 100 Peopel

Demographics

How are users distributed in Israel?

Throughout 2022, on average there are about 7.5 million active social media users in Israel on a monthly basis with an annual growth rate of 3.7 % in 2021-22 . This represents about  79.7 % of the total population. These social media users on average spend about 1.97 hours on social media and each on average have accounts on 5.5 platforms.

% of Total Social Media Users|Note: Meta's figure as reference, 2022

Main Drivers Behind Using Social Media?

Source: Survey by GWI. Users in Israel that are aged 16-64 years old

What Kinds of Accounts Do Users Follow?

Source: Survey by GWI. Users in Israel that are aged 16-64 years old

The Platforms

What Kinds of Platform is Used in Israel?

In Israel, WhatsApp is the dominant platform with a near 90% penetration rate. This is a recent shift, as Facebook was previously the most widely used platform. But with the pandemic, many organizations, schools, and families are relying on WhatsApp more to stay connected, which has led to new and creative uses of the platform.

An example of this can be seen in a story reported by the Times of Israel, where farmers have turned to using WhatsApp to sell their produce, due to the negative impact of the pandemic and logistics disruptions on agriculture exports.

Most Used Platforms (% of Internet Users)|Note: 2022
Most Loved Platforms (% of Internet Users)|Note: 2022
Platform Figure (% of Population)|Source: OOSGA Analytics; eMarketer, Napoleon Cat, Facebook, ByteDance, Microsoft | Note: No LinkedIn Data Prior to 2019/8
Explore Social Media in Other Countries

Facebook Overview in Israel

With the latest data published in January 2023, we can see that at the growth rate of 1.02%, there is now around 6.57 million Facebook users in Israel . With male users account for around 50.06% and female users account for around 49.94%.

Facebook Users | Unit: a Thousand People
Facebook User Growth | % of Population
User Growth By Age | Unit: a Thousand People
As legal restriction, figure of 13-17 is often underestimated(underreported) and 18-24 is overestimated
User Growth By Age | Unit: % of its Associated Age Bracket
Number may exceed 100% as multi-accounts holders or fake accounts prevail in the country

Instagram Overview in Israel

With the latest data published in January 2023, we can see that at the growth rate of 1.12%, there is now around 4.19 million Instagram users in Israel . With male users account for around 46.9% and female users account for around 53.1%.

Instagram Users | Unit: a Thousand People
Instagram User Growth | % of Population
User Growth By Age | Unit: a Thousand People
As legal restriction, figure of 13-17 is often underestimated(underreported) and 18-24 is overestimated
User Growth By Age | Unit: % of its Associated Age Bracket
Number may exceed 100% as multi-accounts holders or fake accounts prevail in the country

TikTok Overview in Israel

With the latest data published in January 2023, we can see that at the growth rate of 1.41%, there is now around 3.2 million TikTok users in Israel . With male users account for around 0.524 and female users account for around 0.476.

TikTok Users | Unit: a Thousand People
TikTok User Growth | % of Population

LinkedIn Overview in Israel

With the latest data published in January 2023, we can see that at the growth rate of 1.1x, there is now around 2.35 million LinkedIn users in Israel.

LinkedIn Users | Unit: a Thousand People
User Growth By Age | Unit: a Thousand People

Reference

  • Internet & Cellular Subscription:World Bank, ITU
  • Currency Exchange: Based on IMF data in 2023/1
  • Demographics: UN Population Database
  • Social Media Behavior: GWI, Hootsuite 2022 Digital Report
  • Meta, LinkedIn Data: Napoleon Cat Stats
  • Data Calculation & Regression:OOSGA.org
  • Analysis:OOSGA Analytics
  • Note: The data for monthly platform usage and the data for the most frequently used platforms are sourced from different research, hence there may be discrepancies in the numbers as both are estimated rather than real figure.
Author: Consumer Research

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