A new report examining the global economic impact of Facebook has revealed how the social media platform has facilitated growth and jobs around the world.
The study, independently authored by Deloitte on behalf of Facebook, estimates that the company, with a cost base of around $8bn, enabled a global economic impact of $227bn and supported 4.5 million third-party jobs in 2014.
In the UK, Facebook’s economic impact is reported to amount to $11bn with 154,000 “jobs supported”.
The report also reveals how the social media giant – which connects more than 1.35bn people around the world – stimulates economic growth by providing tools for marketers, a platform for app developers and a “demand for connectivity”.
The study, which is an update to Deloitte’s 2011 European report on the subject and now includes an analysis of other regions and countries, also claims that Facebook increases demand for mobile devices and internet services that “carry positive spill-overs” to other parts of the economy
Key findings
— The United States is estimated to capture the largest share of economic impact enabled – $100bn
— The thriving app economy in EMEA has helped to generate $13bn of economic impact for the region through the platform effects
— Facebook ‘reduces barriers’ to marketing by helping businesses of sizes raise awareness of their brands
— The platform enables ‘new ecosystems’ – such as the app economy – that ‘stimulate innovation and generate jobs’
“Our study finds that Facebook enables significant global economic activity by helping to unlock new opportunities through connecting people and businesses, lowering barriers to marketing, and stimulating innovation,” said Jolyon Barker, Deloitte’s global managing director, technology, media & telecommunications.
However, commenting on the findings, Matthew Knight, head of innovation at Carat, said that claiming to be one of the main drivers behind smartphone growth is “bold and brave”, arguing there are many other contributing factors.
“The huge growth in the numbers of networked consumers has a multitude of reasons and Facebook is just one of the many channels which creates the sense of connectivity which people crave,” he told Newsline.
“The economic impact it’s claiming is the digital economy, which it’s a huge part of – but without the entire networked ecosystem, that economic benefit would not exist.
“The Open Source movement could equally claim huge numbers by being responsible for software like Apache webservers, or HTML, as could Tim Berners Lee for his role in the conception of the modern web.”
The full report is available on Deloitte’s website.
