The report brings comprehensive information about the significant changes and substantial rise of social media users in the country due to the popularity of the smart divide.
The Statista report about Social Media in Vietnam, divided into 6 parts, includes an overview of social media development from 2020 to 2025, the number of users, leading platforms, influencer marketing, social commerce, and user behavior. The report brings comprehensive information about the significant changes and substantial rise of social media users in the country due to the popularity of the smart divide. Download the full report to get deep data or read our report analytics in the article below.
The Social Media report was surveyed in selected countries by Statista, showing the high number of social network users in 2020 compared with the one predicted in 2025.
In 2020, Vietnam had 73.56 million social network users, accounting for 75,6% of the total population. The social network users in 2025 are predicted to increase to 93.68 million users.
The report also showed that China had the largest social network users, up to 926.84 million users, accounting for 66% of the total population, and predicted to increase to 1,135.13 million users in 2025. The second rank belongs to India, with the number of social network users reaching 349.97 million and predicted to increase to 490.3 million users in 2025.
As of January 2021, South Korea has the highest active social media user penetration in the Asia Pacific, up to 89.3%, behind is Malaysia with the penetration rate of 86%, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, etc. Vietnam ranked 12th below Japan and before Cambodia with the penetration rate of 73.7%.
The number of social media users in Vietnam is forecast to increase steadily in 2025, with the number of users around 81.93 million in 2025, increasing to more than 20 million active users.
The following section shows the number of users on popular social platforms in Vietnam, including Facebook, Zalo, Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, and Linked.
According to the data, the number of Facebook users in Vietnam will increase enormously from 2017 to 2020 and will show a slight decrease continuously for the following year. In 2020, Vietnam will have 65.89 million Facebook users, accounting for 68% of the total population.
Facebook users in Vietnam are mainly 18 to 34 years old (accounting for more than 23 million people); 50.7% are men, and 49.3% are women. Users mainly engage with video and photo posts or use Facebook Messenger to message friends or purchase online. There are many reasons why the number of users plummeted. According to Nielsen research, the number of virtual accounts created but never used or having multiple accounts can decrease the actual number of user accounts.
Zalo
Zalo is an OTT service (Over The Top - a solution to provide content to users based on the Internet and not a provider or any agency can interfere) first released in August 2012. Zalo was developed and published by VNG Joint Stock Company (a Vietnamese technology company). Because this is a Vietnamese application, it is amicable and easy to use from the interface to the function.
According to data from Statista, as of 2020, Zalo is currently the most significant domestic social network in Vietnam, with about 62 million users, an increase of 9.6 million users compared to the previous year.
Youtube
Vietnam is one of the countries that watch YouTube globally. The results of this survey show the popularity of YouTube, including famous YouTubers in Vietnam. According to a Statista report, in 2020, Vietnam will have 65.89 million Youtube users, increasing 24.69 million users compared to 2017. It is predicted that Youtube users will increase to 75.44 million users in 2025, increasing 10 million from 2020.
Instagram is the best social network for brands that want to find fashion and lifestyle followers in Vietnam. On Instagram, users love inspirational and humorous content. 60% of Instagram users are women and mostly 18 to 30 years old. According to the report, there will be an estimated 10.93 million users in Vietnam in 2025. This number in 2020 was 7.13 million users. The number of Instagram users in Vietnam increased steadily through the years from 2017 to 2025.
TikTok
Officially launched in Vietnam at the end of April 2019, TikTok quickly became one of the most popular social networks among users. According to the Mobile Apps 2021 report released by Appota, TikTok Vietnam has proven attractive when recording 16 million downloads and achieving a growth of 160% downloads on iOS in 2020. In terms of app rankings recently popular in the Vietnam market, TikTok has quickly taken fourth place right after Facebook, Zalo, and Instagram.
The data from Statista show a substantial increase of Tik Tok users in Vietnam from the first time they were launched in 2017. In 2017, there were 1.04 million Tiktok users and rapidly increased to 6.16 million users in the next few years. The number of Tiktok users doubled in 2019, reaching 12.88 million users. From 2020 to 2025, the report predicts that there will still be a steady growth over the years.
LinkedIn is the new social network that many high-end Vietnamese candidates choose to build their brand. According to Navigos Group, with a social network channel, LinkedIn - a website for professional networking is the first choice for Vietnamese people in building a personal brand with 31% of opinions. In comparison, the percentage of people who choose Facebook is 27%.
The "personal brand" will grow stronger and stronger because of the development of the digital era and the flat world because advanced technology with unlimited connectivity makes it easier for users to build their brand in depth and breadth. And LinkedIn is the best social platform to help people get these things.
In Vietnam, there were 2.63 million Linkedin users in 2017. This number will increase to 3.46 million users in 2019, with an annual growth rate of 10.52%. There is a forecast of the Linkedin users to increase 3.9 million people in 2025, an increase of 22 thousand users.
Leading platforms
The reports show the list of leading social media platforms in Vietnam as of Jan 2021, with the highest rank belonging to the Facebook platform, accounting for 95% of the share of respondents. The next most popular is Zalo accounting for 86% of respondents, Youtube, Instagram, and Titok following with 80%, 43%, and 37%, respectively. Other active social media platforms among internet users in Vietnam include Pinterest, Twitter, Linkedin, Gapo, and Lotus.
Listing at the end with the minimum shares of 3% and 2%, respectively, Gapo and Lotus - the social network for Vietnamese people quickly failed despite the excellent initial orientation.
Two social networks Gapo and Lotus, had just appeared in 2019; both new social networks are confident that they will make a difference compared to their predecessors in Vietnam. Just a few months after its launch, these popular social networks have all fallen into oblivion. Even the Gapo website homepage reported an error "cannot be displayed." The home page of the Lotus social network is not much better; it is almost like a "dead" social network with the posts of many accounts on Lotus with almost no interaction.
The report points out the difference in the behavior of Generations Z, Y, and X when using other Social Media platforms, including Facebook, Zalo, Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, and Pinterest.
As of the 1st quarter of 2021, Facebook continues to hold the no. 1 position in the ranking of active social media platforms among Generation Y and Z. Zalo and Youtube compete for the 2nd rank. And TikTok - the application "branded" exclusively for Generation Z - is gradually catching up with Instagram when it is only 11% behind. In general, Zalo, TikTok, and Twitter are the 3 most popular platforms in Generation X and Z. At the same time, Instagram has only maintained its popularity in Generation Z and lost a large audience of both generations.
The popularity of Facebook, Youtube, Zalo, and Instagram among Generation Z indicates that they will be the leading generation in the future of "audio-visual." Therefore, "audio-visual" content formats combined with easy-to-remember hashtags, "catchy" will be an intelligent approach that brands can apply when reaching these audiences.
Facebook was the leading social media platform for mindless browsing Vietnam in 2021
According to responses from respondents, surfing messenger, Zalo becomes the social networking platform that connects friends and family the most. According to the report, 41% of respondents use Zalo to connect with their friends and family, 33% use Facebook, and 22% use Messenger.
In 2020, the Micro-influencers (10k-100k followers) group accounted for the most significant proportion of up to 45.81% of influencers in Vietnam 2020. Nano-influencers (1k-10k followers) are the second group that accounts for a 37.32% share of influencers. The group of micro-influencers has become trending advertising in 2020 and is expected to be the factor that helps the marketing campaign become viral across all media channels.
Youtube was the most commonly used platform for influencers in Vietnam, accounting for 59.42% share of influencers. The second rank was Facebook account for 30.77%, Instagram and Twitter were 8.48% and 1.33%, respectively.
Cosmetics are the main products purchased by consumers based on influencer endorsement in 2020 in Vietnam, accounting for 55% of respondents, followed by Clothing, accounting for 52%. Other products include Shoes and bags, Nutritional supplements and diet products, Books, Consumer electronics and gadgets, Jewellery and fashion accessories, etc.
The popularity of smartphones has promoted the growth of eCommerce and social commerce. Social commerce describes online retail that uses social networks or peer-to-peer communication to drive sales.
As we can see through the data chart above, the ratio of social commerce live sales to comments in Vietnam in the 2nd quarter is double compared to the 1st quarter in 2020.
The social commerce shoppers in Vietnam aged from 13 to 65+ years old, female shoppers aged from 25 to 34 years old accounting for the highest proportion of 32%, and almost all male shoppers aged from 18-24 years old, accounting for 10%. Male who are aged 55 to 65+ years old do not buy things on social commerce.
The leading social commerce product categories are Clothing, Shopping & Retail, Fast food restaurants.
Cash on delivery is the preferred payment method of social commerce consumers in Vietnam from 1st to 2nd quarter in 2020, accounting for 62%. 14% of respondents preferred bank transfer, 10% used digital wallets, and 8% used a credit card.
The survey from APAC country points out the share of internet users who use social media for work purposes; 60% of respondents from Indonesia use social media for work purposes, which makes this country ranked in the first position. The Philippines ranks second with 57.6% of respondents using social media for work purposes, Vietnam ranks third with 55.9% of respondents using social media for work purposes.
On average, India owns 11.4 social media accounts, the highest among the list of Asia Pacific countries. In Vietnam, an internet user owns a 9.9 average number of social media accounts. On average, Vietnamese social users spend 2.21 hours using social media daily, behind 1.94 hours from the Philippines' highest country.
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