Is the Danish social media market growing?
The Danish social media market has gradually increased over the past few years. In 2023, there were over five million social media users in Denmark, and by 2029, it is expected there will be 5.7 million users in the country. As of March 2023, 52 percent of social media users in Denmark were women. Millennials made up almost one-third of users in the country, while 31 percent belonged to Generation X. Generation Z accounted for 25 percent of users, and Baby boomers made up around one in ten users.In 2023, most social media users in Denmark described themselves as politically centrist, and 29 percent said they were on the right of the political spectrum.
How do the Danes use social media?
There are many ways that social media has been integrated into people’s everyday lives. Danish users’ most popular reason for using social media is to keep in touch with family and friends. Filling spare time and reading news stories are also popular activities, but personal relations are by far top of the list for users in Denmark. Following celebrities or posting about their own lives are not that important.Looking at time spent on various platforms, it seems that entertainment is another reason why people in Denmark use social media and social apps. An average of 30 hours per month were spent on TikTok in 2023, followed by 16 hours on YouTube, and 15 hours on Facebook.
Competition for major players
Meta’s Facebook and Instagram always come out on top, but they are up against serious competition. As of January 2024, Facebook had 3.4 million users in Denmark, and though it is the most used platform in the country, the social media giant has seen decreasing user numbers since 2021. A similar pattern can be seen when looking at Instagram, which had 2.5 million users as of early 2024, down from a peak of 2.7 million users in 2022.Despite having 1.45 million users, less than half of that of Facebook, TikTok’s audience continued to grow steadily between 2022 and 2024. In light of the fact that Danish users choose to spend more time on TikTok than any of Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram may have serious competition ahead of them. Additionally, although only having reached one million users in 2024, X (formerly Twitter) is another platform that has seen steady audience growth over the past few years.
For now, social media users in Denmark still flock to Facebook and Instagram as a means of staying in touch with friends and family, but entertainment-hungry Generation Z have adopted TikTok as the social app of their generation, signaling changes to the Danish market in the coming years.
