Stacy Jo Dixon
Research expert covering social media usage worldwide
Social media usage in the Benelux - Statistics & Facts
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are a small yet mighty part of Northern Europe’s digital market, boasting around 25 million social media users in total. The Benelux region offers a unique perspective on how neighboring nations utilize social media, and how preferences differ from country to country. Since the populations of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are very different, the number of social media users is also bound to vary. When compared to Belgium and the Netherlands, why is Luxembourg so far behind in social media adoption?
As of March 2023, three-quarters of social media users in Belgium used social media every day. In the Netherlands, social media users were slightly less likely to use social media daily than their Belgian counterparts. Facebook was the most visited social media network, a trend seen across the Benelux region. However, in Luxembourg, other popular services, such as Instagram and Pinterest, pulled in much lower shares of visits than they did in Belgium and the Netherlands. The clear preference for the social media behemoth in Luxembourg does not leave much room for its competitors.
Consumers have reservations when it comes to online ads. In Belgium, consumers were most concerned about their personal data being exploited when it came to targeted advertising. Half of consumers in the Netherlands were worried about their online data being used to create fake profiles. In Luxembourg, users were concerned about cookies being installed on their computer when it came to targeted online ads. Moreover, 49 percent of Dutch Generation Z said they were often annoyed by advertising they had seen on the internet, and 30 percent said they were unhappy when they received ads that were based on their search history.
Benelux's audiences are avid online users
As of January 2023, there were 9.44 million social media users in Belgium, and 15.5 million users in the Netherlands. Luxembourg, with 400 thousand users, had a penetration rate of 62 percent, noticeably lower than the social media reach in Belgium and the Netherlands.As of March 2023, three-quarters of social media users in Belgium used social media every day. In the Netherlands, social media users were slightly less likely to use social media daily than their Belgian counterparts. Facebook was the most visited social media network, a trend seen across the Benelux region. However, in Luxembourg, other popular services, such as Instagram and Pinterest, pulled in much lower shares of visits than they did in Belgium and the Netherlands. The clear preference for the social media behemoth in Luxembourg does not leave much room for its competitors.
Facebook and TikTok go head-to-head
Facebook is the most popular social media network in the Benelux region. Overall, there are around 14.5 million users of the service across the countries as of October 2023. Additionally, Facebook finds most popularity with users aged 25 to 34 years. Facebook could soon find some competition from Generation Z favorite TikTok. In Belgium and the Netherlands, the ByteDance-owned app had over nine million users as of 2023. Recently, TikTok has seen a large growth in users in the Netherlands, and since 2021, it has seen an audience increase of over 135 percent.Benelux's consumers have a lot to say about online ads
Online advertising becomes more and more important to companies and brands with every year. In 2022, 1.2 billion U.S. dollars were spent on social media advertising in the Netherlands. In Belgium, this figure stood at 580 million U.S. dollars, and 99 million U.S. dollars in Luxembourg.Consumers have reservations when it comes to online ads. In Belgium, consumers were most concerned about their personal data being exploited when it came to targeted advertising. Half of consumers in the Netherlands were worried about their online data being used to create fake profiles. In Luxembourg, users were concerned about cookies being installed on their computer when it came to targeted online ads. Moreover, 49 percent of Dutch Generation Z said they were often annoyed by advertising they had seen on the internet, and 30 percent said they were unhappy when they received ads that were based on their search history.
