Digital 2025: India
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This page contains all the data, insights, and trends you need to help you understand how people in India use digital devices, online platforms, and connected services in 2025.
If you want to know whether this is our most recent report on India, or if you’re looking for data on digital trends and behaviours in India for other years, you can find DataReportal’s full collection of (free!) reports on India by clicking here.
You’ll also find the complete Digital 2025 report for India in the “full report” section towards the bottom of this page, but we’ll start this article by taking a look at the essential headline numbers for India this year.
Just before that, we’d like to say a big thank you to Meltwater and to We Are Social for their support of the Global Digital Reports series in 2025.
Now, let’s start exploring the data…
The “state of digital” in India in 2025
Here are DataReportal’s essential headlines for the adoption and use of connected devices and services in India in 2025:
A total of 1.12 billion cellular mobile connections were active in India in early 2025, with this figure equivalent to 76.6 percent of the total population. However, note that some of these connections may only include services such as voice and SMS, and some may not include access to the internet.
There were 806 million individuals using the internet in India at the start of 2025, when online penetration stood at 55.3 percent.
India was home to 491 million social media user identities in January 2025, equating to 33.7 percent of the total population.
These headline stats offer a great overview of the “state of digital” in India at the start of 2025, but in order to make sense of how digital trends and behaviours have been evolving over time, we need to dig deeper into the data.
Let’s take a closer look at what the numbers tell us, starting with some valuable context relating to the population of India.
Population of India in 2025
The population of India stood at 1.46 billion in January 2025.
Data shows that India’s population increased by 13 million (+0.9 percent) between early 2024 and the start of 2025.
Meanwhile, in early 2025, 37.1 percent of India’s population lived in urban centres, whereas 62.9 percent lived in rural areas.
At that time, 48.4 percent of India’s population was female, while 51.6 percent of the population was male.
Note: gender data were only available for “female” and “male” at the time of report production.
India’s population by age
At the beginning of 2025, the median age of India’s population was 28.8, with half of India’s population above this age, and the other half of the population below it.
For added context, here’s how India’s total population broke down by age group at the start of the year:
7.7 percent was between the ages of 0 and 4.
13.0 percent was between the ages of 5 and 12.
8.6 percent was between the ages of 13 and 17.
12.3 percent was between the ages of 18 and 24.
16.8 percent was between the ages of 25 and 34.
14.7 percent was between the ages of 35 and 44.
11.3 percent was between the ages of 45 and 54.
8.2 percent was between the ages of 55 and 64.
7.4 percent was aged 65 and above.
Note: percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
Mobile connections in India in 2025
Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 1.12 billion cellular mobile connections in India at the beginning of 2025.
For perspective, many people make use of more than one mobile connection, so it’s not unusual for mobile connection figures to significantly exceed figures for total population.
For example, the same person might have one mobile connection for personal use, but also use a separate mobile connection for work activities. The rise of eSIMs has made this even easier over recent years.
However, this practice hasn’t yet pushed mobile connectivity rates in India beyond 100 percent, and GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in India were equivalent to 76.6 percent of the total population in January 2025.
Looking at trends over time, the number of mobile connections in India decreased by 1.3 million (-0.1 percent) between the start of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.
Meanwhile, GSMA Intelligence’s data suggests that 92.3% of mobile connections in India can now be considered “broadband”, which means that they connect via 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile networks.
However, devices that connect to “broadband” mobile networks do not necessarily use cellular mobile data — for example, some subscription plans may only include access to voice and SMS services — so this broadband figure should not be considered a proxy for mobile internet use.
Internet use in India in 2025
At the time of report production, the latest available data indicated that there were 806 million internet users in India in January 2025.
This means that India’s internet penetration rate stood at 55.3 percent of the total population at the start of the year.
Meanwhile, Kepios’s analysis indicates that the number of internet users in India increased by 49 million (+6.5 percent) between January 2024 and January 2025.
And for added perspective, India’s internet adoption rate (i.e. the percentage of the total population that uses the internet) increased by a relative 5.5 percent (+290 basis points) during the same period.
But these user figures also suggest that 652 million people in India did not use the internet at the beginning of 2025, suggesting that 44.7 percent of the population remained “offline” at the start of the year.
However, complexities associated with the collection and analysis of internet user data mean that it can often take several months before research is ready for publication.
As a result, the latest published figures for internet use may under-represent current realities, and actual rates for internet adoption and year-on-year growth may be higher than the figures shown here suggest.
Please see our comprehensive notes on data for further details.
Internet connection speeds in India in 2025
Figures published by Ookla indicate that internet users in India could have expected the following internet connection speeds at the beginning of 2025, reported in megabits per second (Mbps):
Median mobile internet download speed via cellular data networks*: 100.78 Mbps.
Median fixed internet download speed: 63.55 Mbps.
Ookla’s data reveals that the median mobile internet download speed in India increased by 6.16 Mbps (+6.5 percent) in the twelve months to January 2025.
Meanwhile, the company’s data shows that the download speed of the typical fixed internet connection in India increased by 4.93 Mbps (+8.4 percent) during the same period.
*Note: values for mobile internet connection speeds only include data transfer via cellular mobile networks (e.g. 3G, 4G, and 5G connections), and do not represent the speed of mobile connections via WiFi where the WiFi router connects to the internet via “fixed” infrastructure.
Social media statistics for India in 2025
DataReportal’s figures show that there were 491 million active social media user identities in India in January 2025.
For perspective, this figure was equivalent to 33.7 percent of India’s total population at the start of 2025.
However, while our methodology strives to “de-duplicate” social media users across different social platforms — and, wherever possible, to remove accounts that do not represent individual human users — it’s important to stress that our social media user identities figures may not represent unique individuals (see our detailed notes on data to learn why).
Moreover, due to complexities associated with de-duplicating users across different social platforms, the methodology that we use to calculate social media user identities may sometimes only factor users of the social media platform that has the largest active audience in the respective country at the time of report production.
As a result, the figures that we publish for a country’s overall social media use may sometimes look very similar to the statistics that we publish for the most popular social media platform in that country.
Separately, please also note that the signals and sources that we rely on to inform these social media figures make regular changes and corrections to their data.
As a result, the values for social media use shown here might appear to be quite different to the numbers that we published in previous years.
Because of this, we advise significant caution when comparing the values for social media user identities published in this year’s reports with those published in previous years, especially because changes in our reported values may be the result of “corrections” in the source data, and not all trends will be the result of changes in actual user behaviour.
This is particularly pertinent when it comes to trends in social media use over time, and we recommend that readers use the change figures published below, rather than trying to re-calculate growth figures using data published in our previous reports.
And on that note, Kepios’s analysis shows that social media user identities in India increased by 29 million (+6.3 percent) between early 2024 and the beginning of 2025.
Turning our attention to user demographics, data published in the ad planning tools of top social media platforms indicates that there were 444 million users aged 18 and above using social media in India at the beginning of 2025, which was equivalent to 43.1 percent of the total population aged 18 and above.
At that time, 34.5 percent of India’s social media user identities were female, while 65.5 percent were male.
And for added context, it may be helpful to know that 60.9 percent of India’s total internet user base (regardless of age) used at least one social media platform in January 2025.
Note: due to source data limitations, we’re only able to report gender data for “female” and “male”.
YouTube users in India in 2025
Google’s advertising resources indicate that YouTube had 491 million users in India in early 2025.
It’s important to stress that these advertising reach figures do not necessarily represent the same thing as monthly active user figures though, and there may be meaningful differences between the size of YouTube’s ad audience and its total active user base.
Caveats aside, the company’s own data suggests that YouTube’s ad reach in early 2025 was equivalent to 33.7 percent of India’s total population at the start of the year.
To put those figures in perspective, YouTube ads reached 60.9 percent of India’s total internet user base (regardless of age) in January 2025.
At that time, 34.5 percent of YouTube’s adult ad audience in India was female, while 65.5 percent was male.
Note: at the time of report production, Google’s advertising resources only published audience gender data for “female” and “male” users.
YouTube user growth in India
Data published in Google’s own ad planning tools show that YouTube’s potential ad reach in India increased by 29.0 million (+6.3 percent) between the start of 2024 and early 2025.
Meanwhile, on a quarter-by-quarter basis, the same data show that the number of users that marketers could reach with ads on YouTube in India remained unchanged between October 2024 and January 2025.
However, it’s worth noting that Google only publishes updates to its figures for YouTube reach every three to six months, and actual reach may have evolved since this data was published in Google’s ad planning tools.
▶ Looking for more YouTube stats ? Click here to explore our in-depth YouTube data for all available countries.
Facebook users in India in 2025
Data published in Meta’s advertising resources indicate that Facebook had 384 million users in India in early 2025.
However, Meta has made important changes to the way its advertising resources report audience reach data over recent months — including making meaningful revisions to published audience data — so the figures shown here may not be directly comparable with figures published in our previous reports.
To learn more about these changes, please see our extensive notes on data.
Facebook user growth in India
Figures published in Meta’s own tools indicate that Facebook’s potential ad reach in India increased by 16.7 million (+4.5 percent) between January 2024 and January 2025.
For more recent context, the same data show that the number of users that marketers could reach with ads on Facebook in India increased by 10.4 million (+2.8 percent) in the three months between October 2024 and January 2025.
However, it’s important to stress that Meta’s advertising reach figures are not the same as the active user figures that the company may report in its investor earnings announcements, and they should not be interpreted as such.
As Meta states in a note published in its ad planning tools,
“Estimated audience size is not a proxy for monthly or daily active users, or for engagement. Estimates aren’t designed to match population, census estimates or other sources, and may differ depending on factors such as how many accounts across Meta technologies a person has, how many temporary visitors are in a particular geographic location at a given time, and Meta user-reported demographics.”
As a result, changes in ad reach may not necessarily indicate any change in the overall user bases of Meta’s platforms.
But despite these caveats, Meta’s ad reach data still offers valuable insights into how Facebook use is evolving, so let’s take a closer look.
Facebook adoption in India
Facebook’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 26.3 percent of the total population at the beginning of 2025.
Meta only allows people aged 13 and above to use Facebook though, and it’s worth highlighting that 33.2 percent of the “eligible” audience in India used Facebook at the time of writing.
Furthermore, it may be useful to know that the company’s data indicates that 37.2 percent of adults aged 18 and above in India used Facebook at the start of 2025.
And for additional context, Facebook’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 47.6 percent of the local internet user base (regardless of age) in January 2025.
At the beginning of 2025, 26.4 percent of Facebook’s ad audience in India was female, while 73.6 percent was male.
Note: at the time of report production, Meta’s advertising tools only showed audience gender data for “female” and “male” users.
▶ Looking for more Facebook stats? Click here to explore our in-depth Facebook data for every country in the world.
Instagram users in India in 2025
Numbers published in Meta’s advertising tools indicate that Instagram had 414 million users in India in early 2025.
The company’s regularly revised figures suggest that Instagram’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 28.4 percent of the total population at the start of the year.
However, Meta only allows people aged 13 and above to use Instagram, so it’s also worth highlighting that 35.8 percent of the “eligible” audience in India used Instagram at the time of report production.
Meanwhile, data published in the company’s ad tools indicate that 37.6 percent of adults aged 18 and above in India used Instagram at the beginning of 2025.
Similarly, it may be helpful to know that Instagram’s ad reach in India at the start of 2025 was equivalent to 51.4 percent of the local internet user base (regardless of age).
In early 2025, 29.2 percent of Instagram’s adult ad audience in India was female, while 70.8 percent was male.
Note: at the time of report production, Meta’s advertising resources only published audience gender data for “female” and “male” users.
Instagram user growth in India
Data published in Meta’s planning tools show that Instagram’s potential ad reach in India increased by 51.0 million (+14.0 percent) between January 2024 and January 2025.
On a quarterly basis, the company’s data also reveal that the size of Instagram’s ad audience in India increased by 22.8 million (+5.8 percent) between October 2024 and January 2025.
As we noted in the Facebook section above though, changes in the audience reach figures published in Meta’s ad planning tools do not necessarily correlate with overall changes in its platforms’ active user bases.
▶ Looking for more Instagram stats? Click here to explore our in-depth Instagram data for every country in the world.
LinkedIn users in India in 2025
Figures published in LinkedIn’s advertising resources indicate that LinkedIn had 150 million “members” in India in early 2025.
Note that LinkedIn’s advertising tools publish audience reach data based on total registered members, rather than the monthly active users that form the basis of the ad reach figures published by most other social media platforms.
As a result, these LinkedIn figures are not directly comparable with the figures for other social media platforms published on this page, or those shown in our Digital 2025 reports.
But caveats aside, the company’s own advertising reach figures suggest that LinkedIn’s audience in India was equivalent to 10.3 percent of the total population at the start of 2025.
LinkedIn’s advertising tools only publish data for users aged 18 and above though, so it may be more representative to state that LinkedIn’s ads reached 14.6 percent of India’s population aged 18 and above in early 2025.
Meanwhile, LinkedIn’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 18.6 percent of the local internet user base (regardless of age) at the beginning of the year.
In early 2025, 30.2 percent of LinkedIn’s ad audience in India was female, while 69.8 percent was male.
Note: at the time of report production, LinkedIn’s advertising resources only published audience gender data for “female” and “male” users.
LinkedIn user growth in India
Data published in LinkedIn’s planning tools show that LinkedIn’s potential ad reach in India increased by 30.0 million (+25.0 percent) between the start of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.
On a quarterly basis, the company’s data reveal that the size of LinkedIn’s ad audience in India increased by 10.0 million (+7.1 percent) between October 2024 and January 2025.
However, because LinkedIn’s ad audience figures are based on total registered members rather than monthly active users, it’s unclear whether these trends might reflect changes in active LinkedIn use too.
▶ Looking for more LinkedIn stats? Click here to explore our in-depth LinkedIn data for countries all over the world.
Messenger users in India in 2025
Data published in Meta’s advertising resources indicate that ads on Messenger reached 109 million users in India in early 2025.
The company’s frequently adjusted audience numbers suggest that Messenger’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 7.5 percent of the total population at the start of the year.
Meta only allows people aged 13 and above to use Messenger though, so it’s worth highlighting that 9.4 percent of the “eligible” audience in India used Messenger at the time of writing.
Moreover, data published in the company’s ad tools indicate that 10.6 percent of adults aged 18 and above in India used Messenger at the start of 2025.
And for additional context, Messenger’s ad reach in India at that time was equivalent to 13.5 percent of the local internet user base (regardless of age).
At the beginning of 2025, 23.5 percent of Messenger’s ad audience in India was female, while 76.5 percent was male.
Note: at the time of report production, Meta’s advertising resources only published audience gender data for “female” and “male” users.
Messenger user growth in India
Data published in Meta’s planning tools show that Messenger’s potential ad reach in India decreased by 13.0 million* (-10.7 percent) between January 2024 and January 2025.
And on a quarterly basis, the company’s data reveal that the size of Messenger’s ad audience in India increased by 950 thousand (+0.9 percent) between October 2024 and January 2025.
However, as we noted in the Facebook section above, changes in the audience reach figures published in Meta’s ad planning tools do not necessarily correlate with overall changes in its platforms’ active user bases.
*Important note: in addition to regular changes in active user numbers, social media platforms may revise or “correct” the audience reach figures that they report in their advertising tools, and these interventions may result in an apparent decline in reported reach.
For example, platforms may remove accounts that do not meet their terms of service — such as when users create duplicate or “false” accounts — or when they suspect accounts to be engaging in “inauthentic” activity.
On occasion, these platform “corrections” may result in meaningful changes in reported reach, and such adjustments may significantly distort trends and values for change over time.
However, in many cases, such declines in reported ad reach do not indicate any change in legitimate platform use by “real” humans, and should not be interpreted as such.
As a result, we recommend significant caution when interpreting trends relating to negative changes in reported audience reach.
Please see our detailed notes on data to learn whether our analysis has detected such changes in relevant figures.
▶ Looking for more Messenger stats? Click here to explore our in-depth Messenger data for every country in the world.
Snapchat users in India in 2025
Data published in Snap’s advertising resources indicate that Snapchat had 208 million users in India in early 2025.
This figure means that Snapchat’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 14.3 percent of the total population at the start of the year.
However, Snap only allows people aged 13 and above to use the platform, so it’s also worth noting that 18.0 percent of the “eligible” audience in India used Snapchat in early 2025.
Moreover, data published in the company’s ad tools indicate that 15.5 percent of adults aged 18 and above in India used Snapchat at the beginning of 2025.
And for added perspective, Snapchat’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 25.8 percent of the local internet user base (regardless of age) at the start of the year.
In early 2025, 36.9 percent of Snapchat’s adult ad audience in India was female, while 62.1 percent was male.
Note: In addition to publishing gender data for “female” and “male” users, Snap’s advertising resources also publish data for “unknown” gender, so the figures published for “female” and “male” users don’t always add up to the total user figure. As a result, the percentages shown here may not sum to 100 percent.
Snapchat user growth in India
Data published in Snap’s own ad planning tools show that Snapchat’s potential ad reach in India increased by 7.07 million (+3.5 percent) between the start of 2024 and early 2025.
Meanwhile, the same data show that the number of users that marketers could reach with ads on Snapchat in India increased by 3.67 million (+1.8 percent) between October 2024 and January 2025.
However, it’s important to stress that these advertising reach figures do not represent monthly active user figures, and there may be meaningful differences between the size of Snapchat’s ad audience and its total active user base.
▶ Looking for more Snapchat stats? Click here to explore our in-depth Snapchat data for all available countries.
X users in India in 2025
Numbers published in X’s advertising resources indicate that X had 24.1 million users in India in early 2025.
This figure means that X’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 1.7 percent of the total population at the time.
However, it’s important to stress that these advertising reach figures are not the same as monthly active user figures, and there may be meaningful differences between the size of X’s ad audience and its total active user base.
Meanwhile, X only allows people aged 13 and above to use its platform, so it’s worth adding that the latest figures suggest that 2.1 percent of the “eligible” audience in India used X at the time of report production.
Furthermore, data published in the company’s ad tools indicate that 2.3 percent of adults aged 18 and above in India used X at the beginning of 2025.
And for additional context, X’s ad reach in India was equivalent to 3.0 percent of the local internet user base (regardless of age) at the start of the year.
In early 2025, the company’s own data indicated that 12.9 percent of X’s adult ad audience in India was female, while 87.1 percent was male.
However, X appears to infer its users’ gender, by analysing signals such as the name that users enter in their profile, and their broader activity on the platform.
This contrasts with the gender data offered in the advertising tools of platforms like Facebook, which tend to rely on gender details that users themselves enter in their own profile.
Moreover, our analysis suggests that X’s inferences may be less representative of users’ actual gender in countries where English is not the dominant language.
For example, consumer research findings published by GWI often offer a different picture of X use by gender compared with X’s own audience data.
Having said that, the apparent gender “skew” that frequently appears in X’s inferred gender data may also be due in part to the high number of legitimate but “non-human” accounts that feature in X’s active user data, including accounts that represent businesses and brands, animals, music groups, and various other entities [note that X doesn’t currently distinguish between “people” and other types of account in the ways that platforms like Facebook and Instagram do].
Regardless of the cause though, we’d advise caution when analysing or interpreting X’s reported figures for use by gender.
X user growth in India
Data published in X’s own ad planning tools show that X’s potential ad reach in India decreased by 2.00 million* (-7.7 percent) between the beginning of 2024 and early 2025.
Meanwhile, the same data show that the number of users that marketers could reach with ads on X in India decreased by 1.18 million* (-4.7 percent) between October 2024 and January 2025.
However, please note that the figures published in X’s planning tools are liable to significant fluctuation — even over short periods of time — and these anomalies may impact the reliability and representativeness of these change figures.
Moreover, we’ve identified some unusual trends in the data reported in X’s advertising tools in recent months, so we’d advise caution when it comes to analysing changes over time in these X reach figures.
*Important note: to make better sense of these trends, please refer to our guidance on interpreting declines in platform reach towards the end of the Messenger section above.
▶ Looking for more X stats? Click here to explore our in-depth X data for countries everywhere.
Additional resources
Just before we get to the full report, here are some suggestions for further reading, which will provide additional context for our full set of Digital 2025 numbers for India:
Read our complete Digital 2025 Global Overview Report to get a comprehensive overview of the “state of digital” around the world in 2025.
Click here to see all of the Global Digital Reports we’ve published for India over the years.
Explore all of our reports on countries in the Southern Asia region by clicking here.
Find all of the reports in the Digital 2025 series via this handy index page.
Visit our complete online library to see all of the (free!) reports in the Global Digital Reports series.
If you’d like to receive updates when we publish new reports, click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Full report
You’ll find our complete Digital 2025: India report in the embed below (click here if you can’t see that, or if you can’t change the slides).