We Are Social Report Reveals Southeast Asia Is TikTok’s Largest Advertising Audience Globally

Southeast Asia is home to nearly one-quarter of TikTok’s global advertising audience, according to the latest Digital 2025: July Statshot released by We Are Social, the socially-led creative agency, and Meltwater, a global leader in social and media intelligence.

The report, which covers global social media and digital trends, reveals that the region is TikTok’s largest advertising audience. Thailand has the second highest percentage of monthly users worldwide with more than eight in ten using the platform each month compared to just over three in ten globally.

Most Southeast Asians consume more online video content each week than the global average of 11 hours and 39 minutes. In the Philippines, internet users are consuming more than 20 hours each week with more than half of that time spent watching short-form videos like TikToks and Reels.

Video platform YouTube has the largest reported advertising audience globally of all social media platforms with 2.54 billion monthly active users. Southeast Asians are some of YouTube’s biggest consumers with nations from the region making up half of its top ten countries based on the percentage of monthly active users. The Philippines (86.2 percent) and Vietnam (85 percent) have the highest share of monthly users worldwide.

Influence and entertainment in Southeast Asia

More than one in five internet users in the region follow influencers on social media and watch influencer videos and vlog content each week. In the Philippines, this figure is even greater with 43.5 percent following influencers and approximately half consuming their content each week.

Comedy, meme or viral video content is the most popular type of online video content to consume globally after music videos across all age groups between 16 and 64. More than a third of people watch this online video content each week. TikTok is the platform of choice for funny or entertaining content with nearly 80 percent using it for this reason.

Social’s role in brand discovery

Social media plays an important role in the consumer journey. More than 80 percent of Vietnamese and Indonesians use social media for brand research, while over 60 percent of Malaysians and Filipinos actively seek out brands on social media.

Instagram, TikTok and Facebook are the top platforms, respectively, for brand research worldwide. Facebook continues to be the dominant source of web traffic referral, accounting for more than 70% of referrals from social media platforms globally. This traffic is substantially higher in Indonesia where it accounts for more than 90% of referrals from social media platforms.

The messaging divide

Messaging platform preference varies across the region. Malaysia (92 percent), Indonesia (91.3 percent) and Singapore (82.1 percent) are highly active on WhatsApp, while Philippines (93 percent), Thailand (78.3 percent) and Vietnam (76.3 percent) are more likely to be active on Messenger. The region has the highest share of the advertising audience for Messenger globally, accounting for 22.7 percent.

Telegram also continues to be more popular in the region than other parts of the world. While only one-third of global internet users are active on the platform each month, in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia this figure is closer to two-thirds.

Other key data from the report includes:

• Southeast Asians use more social media platforms than the global average (6.84) with Malaysians using the most platforms worldwide (8.42).
• More than half of Indonesians (51.4 percent) are active each month on X.
• Six in ten Vietnamese internet users are enthusiastic about AI.
• Malaysians are ChatGPT’s biggest monthly active users in Southeast Asia with nearly 40 percent of internet users accessing the generative AI platform.

Naiyen Wang, managing director, Southeast Asia at We Are Social, “The Digital 2025: July Statshot really drives home how important social media and influencer marketing are becoming in Southeast Asia. Consumers in this region are highly active on social media and are navigating multiple platforms to research and engage with brands. What really grabs their attention is content that’s funny and entertaining with that viral spark. For marketers, that means shifting gears from selling to creating content that people actually enjoy and want to engage with.”

Read the full global report here.