Arab Finance: Egypt's mobile internet subscriptions reached 92.6 million in December 2025, representing 75.3% of total mobile subscribers, underscoring the country’s accelerating shift toward digital media consumption, as per a statement issued by the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).

Meanwhile, fixed broadband subscriptions rose to approximately 12.7 million in December 2025, up from around 11.6 million in December 2024, the IDSC added in its latest report, citing the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology.

Citing data by Kepios, the IDSC said that social media users in Egypt accounted for 43.4% of the population by the end of 2025. Facebook remains the most widely used platform in the country, with approximately 51.6 million users as of October 2025, followed by YouTube with 49.3 million users and TikTok with around 48.8 million users aged 18 and above.

According to data from Ookla, average mobile download speeds reached approximately 56.45 megabits per second, while fixed broadband speeds averaged 89.84 megabits per second by the end of 2025.

The report highlights that Egypt’s media sector, one of the oldest in the Arab region, has evolved in parallel with political, social, and economic transformations. From the emergence of print journalism in the 19th century, through the expansion of radio and television, to the rise of digital platforms, the sector has played a central role in shaping public opinion and societal awareness.

Moreover, the report indicates that digital transformation is driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), which are improving content production and audience engagement. AI technologies, including machine translation, data mining, and linguistic analysis, are enhancing the efficiency and quality of media output while supporting the performance of professionals across both public and private media institutions. This role is expected to expand further as global media trends increasingly integrate AI across production, distribution, and audience analysis.

Official projections indicate that AI could contribute approximately 7.7% to Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, according to estimates by the National Council for Artificial Intelligence, reinforcing expectations of deeper technological integration across the media sector.

The report defines digital media as any visual, audio, textual, or graphic content created using technology and distributed through websites and applications, including social media posts, websites, web pages, e-books, podcasts, digital audio such as live streaming and MP3 files, email marketing, blogs, and mobile applications.

Globally, the Digital 2026 Global Overview report showed that internet usage has reached 6.04 billion people by the beginning of October 2025, representing 73.2% of the world’s population of 8.25 billion. Internet adoption has doubled over the past decade, rising from around 3 billion users in October 2015 to approximately 6 billion in October 2025, marking a 100% increase. Despite this expansion, around 2.21 billion people remain without internet access, with most concentrated in South Asia and Africa.

Social media users worldwide reached 5.66 billion by October 2025, accounting for 68.7% of the global population. Between October 2024 and October 2025, around 259 million new users joined social platforms, equivalent to more than 700,000 users per day or 7.8 users per second.

Mobile devices dominate global access to the internet, with around 96% of users relying on mobile phones at least occasionally. Mobile traffic accounts for nearly 60% of total global internet usage, while reliance on desktops and laptops continues to decline, with fewer than six out of ten users depending on them for online activities.

Global mobile penetration also continues to expand, with approximately 70.1% of the world’s population using mobile phones. The number of mobile subscribers reached 5.78 billion by October 2025, while smartphone connections rose to around 7.4 billion devices, representing approximately 87% of all mobile phones in use.

According to data cited from Meta Platforms, Facebook remains the leading social network globally, with more than 3.1 billion active users as of February 2025. The company operates several major platforms, including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.

The US and China continue to dominate the global social media landscape, with most large-scale platforms originating in the US, while China has developed major platforms such as WeChat and QQ. The success of the Chinese video application Douyin, and its international version TikTok, reflects the growing influence of localized digital content in global markets.

The report noted that digital media has evolved into a fully integrated system rather than an extension of traditional media. Unlike print newspapers, television, and radio, which rely on physical infrastructure and one-way communication, digital media operates within a dynamic, interactive ecosystem defined by immediacy, broad reach, and continuous user engagement, reshaping communication, business activity, and government interaction worldwide.