Malaysia tops social media penetration in Southeast Asia

KUALA LUMPUR: In terms of mobile social media penetration, Malaysia is ranked among the top five in the world and the highest in Southeast Asia, according to the latest Digital 2019 report by Hootsuite and We Are Social.

The report said internet penetration in Malaysia is at 80%, with users spending an average of eight hours and five minutes online each day.

Internet penetration is the relationship between the number of people that have access to the internet in a region and the way they tend to use it.

“A healthy portion of this time, two hours and 58 minutes, is attributed to social media consumption.

“Emerging fourth globally in mobile social penetration, Malaysia is in the lead among Southeast Asian countries including Singapore which is in sixth place, followed by Thailand (eighth) and the Philippines (10th),” Hootsuite and We Are Social said in a joint statement today.

They said Malaysia presents a unique opportunity for businesses as 75% of internet users spend their money via e-commerce, with 58% spending through mobile commerce platforms.

The report also showed Malaysia edging out Singapore in the adoption of mobile banking, with 66% of internet users in Malaysia using such options compared with 64% in Singapore.

It said this reflects Malaysia’s increasing dependence on mobile platforms.

Ride-hailing applications have also proven highly popular in Malaysia, with 48% of internet users utilising such apps. This puts Malaysia at third place globally, behind Singapore and Indonesia.