Facebook close to hitting 2 billion users, earns 50% more in 2016

If you thought there wasn’t more room for Facebook to grow on the internet, then you’re wrong, the social network is getting really close to hitting the two billion user mark. At the end of 2016, the company has over 1.86 billion people checking Facebook at least once a month. As Quartz reports, that greater than the population of North and South America as well as Europe combined. The number of users is up from 1.79 billion in the previous quarter and up from 1.59 billion from the previous year.

With Facebook’s abilities to grow its community, it has also beat Wall Street’s expectations of its sales growth, earning a total of US$8.8 billion for the December quarter. That’s also over 50 percent more than it’s earned the year earlier. According to the company’s fourth annual earnings report, Facebook’s overall sales for the past year grew almost 50 percent, too, at $27.6 billion. As the company offers more lucrative video ads, Facebook managed to generate close to $20 from each user in Canada and the U.S. during the quarter. This figure is also up from $13.70 in 2015.

Facebook’s growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down and it still has yet to gain a foothold in China, which is estimated to have 720 million internet users. But with restrictions there, it might be tougher for the social network to break that market. But we won’t be surprised if it tries… just the same as we won’t be surprised once it crosses the two billion user mark.

Source: CNN