Facebook eyes Pakistan, India for growth

Data shows there are 14.2 million Facebook users in Pakistan.

A study conducted by a social media strategy company iStrategy Labs shows that social media network Facebook intends to reach out to the next five billion users and to increase revenues, with users from Pakistan, India and China top among them.

Facebook advertising data indicates that only seven per cent pf Pakistan's population, or just 14.2 million people use the network.

Just eight per cent of India's population, or 102 million people are using Facebook in the country of 1.1 billion.

The data also sees China as a growth portal for the social media network. In China only 0.06 per cent of users (just 840,000) are on Facebook because of the strict regulations of the country. But data suggests the growth of the country will only be possible if Facebook is formally allowed in the country.

Nigeria, seven per cent or 12.4 million users, while Indonesia 26 per cent or 66 million users are potential markets.

The data also suggest that Facebook needs to penetrate the US and UK markets further as only half of the population of both the countries is using the network.