In recent years, social media has become a popular way for people to connect, share experiences, and keep up-to-date with current events. TikTok, a platform that allows users to create and share videos, is one of the most popular platforms with a growing number of users despite recent issues related to it being a Chinese-owned company. It is used by individuals to share and discover new trends but it can also be a powerful medium for companies to reach new audiences.
In this article, we look at TikTok in Canada, including the number of users and audience demographics. For comparison, we have also included key statistics on global TikTok usage. Understanding the statistics can help marketers and content creators to maximize their chances of success.
TikTok Statistics for Canadians
- TikTok has 3.2 million active monthly users in Canada.
- Over 70% of TikTok users in Canada are under 40 years old.
- Canadian women are more likely than Canadian men to use TikTok.
- 26% of Canadians who are online have a TikTok account.
- TikTok is the fourth most regularly used social media network in Canada.
- On average, TikTok users in Canada spend seventeen hours per month on the platform.
- The advertising reach of TikTok is 36% of all adult Canadians.
- Globally TikTok and Douyin, the version of the platform available in China, have around 2.5 billion active monthly users.
- TikTok is valued at $75 billion.
- 60% of global TikTok users are from Generation Z.
- TikTok has been banned or restricted in many countries over fears of data being passed on to the Chinese government.
- TikTok has higher user engagement rates than, for example, Instagram or Twitter.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is an app available on iOS and Android that is used to create and share short videos. The social media app was initially launched under the name Douyin in China in September 2016. The following year, the app was launched for markets outside China as ByteDance.
Despite maintaining separate networks to comply with censorship restrictions in China, both Douyin and TikTok use the same software. TikTok is available to download from Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
TikTok aims to allow everyone to capture and present videos and share their creativity and knowledge directly from their phones. While there are many similarities with other social media apps that allow users to share short videos, TikTok aims to stand out by being an entertainment platform rather than a lifestyle platform.
TikTok in Canada
In August 2021, there were 3.2 million active monthly TikTok users in Canada. The latest available penetration rate for TikTok in Canada is from 2020 when, according to Statista, it was 9%.
This figure was significantly lower than, for example, the penetration rate of Facebook or Instagram in the same year, which were 77% and 69% respectively. However, TikTok saw a rapid rise in its penetration rate in Canada between 2019 and 2020, when it went up 200% year on year.
TikTok User Demographics
The vast majority of TikTok users in Canada are under 40 years old. 43% of Canadian TikTok users are 18-29 years old and 33% are 30-39 years old. Only 13% of 40-49-year-olds and 11% of 50-64-year-olds use TikTok in Canada. 60% of Canadian TikTok users are female and the rest are men. The fastest-growing TikTok user age group in Canada is the 25 to 34 age group.
The Percentage of Online Canadians Using TikTok
While the overall penetration rate of TikTok in Canada was 9%, the percentage of online Canadians with a TikTok account was 15% in 2020. By 2022, the percentage of online Canadians using TikTok had risen to 26%. This gives it a higher user rate than Twitch and Reddit but leaves it behind Facebook, messaging apps, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat.
TikTok is the Fourth Most Regularly Used Social Media Platform in Canada
Despite having the third lowest penetration rate when comparing user numbers among online Canadians, TikTok is the fourth most regularly used platform in Canada among social media users.
Facebook once again is number one with 78%, followed by YouTube with 72%, and Instagram with 53%. TikTok just beats Twitter with its 30% compared to Twitter’s 29%. Its popularity is also evident in the number of users who visit the platform every day. 65% of Canadian TikTok users say they check their TikTok at least once a day.
TikTok is The Second Most Downloaded App in Canada
In 2022, TikTok was the second most downloaded mobile app in Canada, beaten only by Arrivecan owned by the Canada Border Services Agency. It beat the likes of WhatsApp, Bereal, Instagram, and Facebook in the number of app downloads.
TikTok Users Spend More Time on the Platform Than Facebook Users
Canadian TikTok users spend more time on the platform than either Facebook or Instagram users. While Canadian Instagram users spend 9.4 hours per month on the social media network and Facebook users spend 15.6 hours per month, the average TikTok user spends 17 hours per month on the platform.
Advertising on TikTok
TikTok adverts had a reach of 36.1% of all online Canadian adults at the beginning of 2022. The total reach regardless of age was 30.3% and the majority of TikTok’s Canadian ad audience was female in 2022 at 59.7% and males represented 40.3%. The gender data options are only available for female and male users.
Global TikTok Usage
TikTok has over 1.8 billion global users and over one billion videos are viewed every day. However, since the 1.8 billion users figure does not include users from China where the app operates as a separate platform, the actual user number is much higher. There are around 700 million Douyin users in China, making the total number of users for both apps approximately 2.5 billion.
Globally, TikTok is the sixth most popular social media platform based on the number of active monthly users. At the time of writing, the app is available in 75 different languages.
TikTok Has Experienced Rapid Growth
In 2018, a year after its launch as TikTok, the platform had 133 million users. By 2020, the number of users had already grown to 700 million, and the number had more than doubled again two years later in 2022.
In 2022, the app was downloaded 672 million times. The company’s revenue was approximately $31.7 billion in 2021 and the revenue of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, increased by 70% from 2020 to 2021. TikTok is currently valued at $75 billion, while its parent company ByteDance is valued at $300 billion.
Global TikTok User Demographics
TikTok, like most social media platforms, is more popular among the younger than the older generations. 60% of all global TikTok users are from Generation Z. Globally, women make up 54% of the platform’s audience, and men 46%. The smallest age group is people aged 55 and over, which makes up only 1.7% of the global audience. Most people who create content on TikTok are aged 18-24 with 52.8% belonging to this age group.
Countries With the Most TikTok Users
India had by far the largest TikTok audience, with approximately 200 registered users. However, the app, together with 58 other Chinese mobile apps has been permanently banned in India since 2021.
The United States and Turkey have the next largest user numbers, but Saudi Arabia has the highest TikTok penetration rate, with 87.9% of all adults using the app. The fastest growth, based on the number of downloads of the app, is in Brazil, which accounts for 10.4% of all downloads.
TikTok Bans Across the Globe
As well as the permanent ban in India, TikTok has been completely banned in Afghanistan since 2022 when the government said the app misled young people. It has also faced temporary bans on similar grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
In addition to the total TikTok ban in some countries, many other countries have restrictions on the use of TikTok amid fears of the data gathered from the app being used by the Chinese government. Countries that have restricted or banned the use of TikTok on government staff phones include Canada, The United States, and the United Kingdom.
The EU has also banned TikTok on devices used by members of government staff. The EU is also strongly recommending that government staff delete the app from their mobile devices, too.
Average Time Global TikTok Users Spend on the App
On average, TikTok’s global users spend 95 minutes per day on the app and an average user opens the app 19 times per day. 30% of TikTok users watch videos on the app for less than an hour per week, while 6% watch over ten hours of TikTok videos per week.
The average monthly time users spend on TikTok globally is higher than the Canadian monthly average of 17 hours, with global users spending 19.6 hours per month on TikTok. 55% of TikTok users use the app to upload and share videos and 68% of them use the app to watch other people’s videos.
Popular TikTok Categories
Based on the popularity of certain hashtags, people access TikTok to be entertained. ”Entertainment” is the most popular hashtag with 535 billion hashtag views. It is followed by ”Dance” which has 181 billion hashtag views. The most popular TikTok creators are those who post in the ”Dance” category.
Engagement Rates
Engagement data shows that TikTok users are some of the most engaged social media users in the world. While the micro-influencer engagement rate was 17.96% on TikTok, it was only 1.63% on YouTube and 3.86% on Instagram.
The engagement rate is calculated by adding up the number of likes, comments, and shares, and then dividing it by the number of views. TikTok accounts that have over 100,000 followers have an engagement rate of 5.3% compared to 1,1% on Instagram and 0.3% on Twitter.
Global Advertising Statistics for TikTok
Despite only 18% of marketers using TikTok to advertise their products and services, in 2021 ByteDance generated $38.6 billion in advertising revenue. This places it in third place on the global ranking based on ad revenue. The ad revenue was expected to grow by 26% in 2022. However, the bans and restrictions may have impacted the actual advertising revenue in 2022.
TikTok can be a beneficial platform for brands since 55% of the platform’s users have bought something after seeing a video about it on the app. 50% of users have also purchased after watching a TikTok live.
Conclusion
Despite security fears and bans, TikTok has grown in popularity across the globe as well as in Canada. There are approximately 3.2 active monthly TikTok users in Canada and most of its audience is under 40 years old.
TikTok can be a powerful tool for marketers as the platform has higher engagement rates than its rivals and over half of the platform’s users have made a purchase after seeing it on TikTok. However, it is currently under-used by marketers, with only 18% using the platform to market products and services.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old do you need to be to use TikTok?
Anyone who wants to create a TikTok account needs to be at least thirteen years old.
Is TikTok banned in Canada?
TikTok is not banned in Canada, and people can still use it on their private phones. However, it is banned on phones used by government staff over fears of data being passed on to the Chinese government by the parent company ByteDance.
Is TikTok a useful tool for marketers?
TikTok can be very beneficial for marketers wanting to raise more brand awareness and sell their products and services. The social media platform has higher engagement rates than other social media platforms. In addition, 55% of TikTok users have bought a product or service after watching a video about it on the platform.