Facebook’s daily user numbers drop for the first time, Meta quarterly reports show

Meta’s quarterly earnings report released on Wednesday showed an unprecedented drop in daily Facebook users, the first time the social media platform has stopped growing in its 18 year history.

Facebook’s number of daily users fell by almost half a million users in Q4 of 2021 compared to the previous quarter, the first time since its inception the company has not seen growth. The greatest losses were in Africa, Latin America and India, signaling the platform has possibly reached a global peak. 

Meta stocks dropped 20 percent on Wednesday afternoon after the earnings report came out. The newly-formed parent company of Facebook attributed the decline to iOS privacy changes in 2021, and supply chain issues largely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of daily Facebook users has declined in the United States before, but this is the first time user numbers have declined internationally.

The loss puts some pressure on Meta Platforms to expand its AR/VR capabilities, as well as build popularity for its Reels feature and other new additions. Facebook has faced some problems growing its new user numbers in recent years due to younger users gravitating to other platforms like Tiktok.