2027 Global Digital Report
Definitive data on today’s digital world
Explore how people around the world use social media, search, AI, ecommerce, and advertising and what it all means for your strategy.
- $967 billion digital ad spend
- 34h 16m weekly time spent online
- 3.24 billion monthly active generative AI users
Comprehensive data. Endless insights.
Each year, the Global Digital Reports bring together authoritative data from leading research firms, social platforms and government sources. Understand what brings your audiences online and why, along with what they watch, scroll, search, and buy there.
Download the 2027 Global Digital Report to turn the latest global trends into smarter marketing and communications strategies.
Report highlights
Get a snapshot of the data behind the biggest trends shaping how global audiences access, use, and experience the digital world.
19 hours 18 minutes — the average amount of time internet users spend on social media each week
Get the complete 2027 Global Digital Report
Go beyond the highlights with 900 pages of data and proprietary analysis
Report highlight
AI is changing how people search
60.4% of online adults use AI for information searches, rising to more than 78% among those aged 65+.
Report highlight
Social media is still king for brand research
41.8% of online adults evaluate potential purchases using social media, compared to only 26% who use AI.
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Email is having a comeback
Over 76% of online adults use email, the highest level in two years, with 78.9% of 16- to 24-year-olds using email monthly.
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Search remains critical for consumers
Search engines are the top brand discovery channel, with 32% of online adults using them for that purpose, followed by TV ads (30.6%), social ads (30.4%), and word of mouth (29.2%).
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Global Digital Report series is an essential guide to the world’s connected behaviours. It includes comprehensive data and analysis across a wide range of topics, including internet adoption, AI usage, social media habits, online shopping trends, digital marketing spend, and more.
The Global Digital Report combines data from a curated selection of research, technology, government, and platform sources alongside extrapolations of this data and proprietary analysis.
The flagship Global Digital Overview Report and location-specific reports are published annually. Each edition uses the latest data available at the time of production, with historical figures being revised as necessary when sources or methodologies change.
Data for more than 50 countries and territories around the world are analyzed in the Global Digital Report, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Global Digital Report’s research covers ecommerce, technology and telecom, media and entertainment, health and fitness, travel and mobility, gaming, news, social media, advertising, and digital marketing, making it useful for marketers, communications teams, strategists, researchers, business leaders, and other data-driven professionals. It is relevant to organizations in any industry that need to understand digital audiences and consumer behavior.
Yes. The Global Digital Reports are available to download on Meltwater’s website.
The Global Digital Reports are produced by Simon Kemp, chief analyst at DataReportal and the founder and CEO of Kepios, in partnership with Meltwater and We Are Social.
The 2027 Global Digital Report highlights the continued expansion of internet, social media, and generative AI adoption. The report counts 6.15 billion internet users, 5.81 billion social media user identities, and 3.24 billion monthly active generative AI users. It also shows AI adding to established search, social, shopping, and media behaviors.
The 2027 Global Digital Report estimates that there are 5.81 billion social media user identities worldwide, equivalent to 69.9% of the global population. The total increased by approximately 151 million, or 2.7%, year over year. Because people may maintain multiple accounts, user identities do not necessarily represent unique individuals.
Internet users aged 16+ spend an average of 34 hours and 16 minutes per week consuming online media, equivalent to approximately 4 hours and 54 minutes per day, according to the 2027 Global Digital Report. This includes social media, online video, online press, podcasts, music streaming, and streaming TV. Simultaneous media use may inflate the total.
The 2027 Global Digital Report report estimates that 3.24 billion people use standalone generative AI platforms each month, equivalent to 38.9% of the global population. Monthly generative AI users increased by approximately 1.2 billion, or 57.2%, year over year.
The 2027 Global Digital Report estimates global digital advertising spend is projected to reach $967 billion in 2026, up 8.7% year over year. Digital advertising is expected to account for 76.8% of total global advertising spend.
The 2027 Global Digital Report shows that TikTok reported the fastest growth among the major platforms measured, with advertising reach up 17.4% year over year to 2.33 billion adults. LinkedIn’s reported reach increased 16.6% to 1.55 billion registered members, while Instagram’s increased 2.5% to 1.96 billion.
Social networks are the leading source of information for brand research among people aged 16–24. The 2027 Global Digital Report shows that nearly half, or 46.9%, use social networks as a primary source, followed by search engines at 38.6%, mobile apps at 34.6%, and AI tools at 31.6%.
Online consumer-goods spending is projected to reach $3.86 trillion in 2026, representing 15.9% of total consumer-goods spending, according to the 2027 Global Digital Report. Mobile phones account for 53.1% of online consumer-goods purchases, while 55.7% of internet users buy something online each week.