In early 2025, digital intelligence and app data analysis platform Sensor Tower released its State of Mobile 2025 report. The data in the report unveiled the most used and downloaded social media apps in the UAE. TikTok, the Chinese-developed short-form video platform topped both lists.
According to the report, TikTok is the most popular app in the UAE, with the country’s 11.2 million residents spending 7.63 billion hours on the app in 2024. On average, each person uses the app for 2 hours every day. Meanwhile, the report also revealed the most downloaded social media apps. TikTok, again, topped the list, followed by global players Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Telegram. In fact, TikTok is the second most downloaded app overall, behind VPN Proxy Master. The report also concluded that the Chinese e-commerce platform Temu was the most downloaded shopping app in the country, partly because of its affordable pricing.
TikTok is actively developing its e-commerce functions as TikTok Shop is quickly expanding into Europe and other countries. Its Chinese sister app Douyin was recently reported to have surpassed the e-commerce titan JD.com in terms of GMV, ranking third in China, after Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall Group and Temu owner PDD Holding’s Pinduoduo. In a recent survey by YouGov, 61% of consumers from Saudi Arabia and UAE plan to shop on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok this Ramadan.
In another report, it was also reported that TikTok was the fastest-growing social platform in the UAE, with 2.5 million new users in the last year, up 30.4% from 2023. As social commerce and livestream sales are being popularised outside China, TikTok is also facing competition from compatriot apps such as Temu.
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