TikTok penetration demographics in the United Kingdom (UK) 2019

In December 2019, over a quarter of UK smartphone users aged between 18 and 24 were using TikTok. The video-sharing social media app has become hugely popular with "Generation Z" since its launch in September 2017. TikTok is also slightly more popular with the female demographic than it is with male smartphone users. In contrast, only 9.3 percent of 25 to 34 year-olds used the app, and overall the share of users was much lower among older age groups.

TikTok and Generation Z

Despite being used mainly by the younger generation, TikTok has been doing well in the UK. Its market penetration has been on the rise since 2017, reaching 8.7 percent of smartphone users as of December 2019. The app’s biggest increase in uptake was from 2017 to 2018, where user penetration leaped from 2.2 to 5.6 percent. TikTok is also highly popular among children 4-15 years old and was the second most used app daily in February 2020 after YouTube within that demographic. In a comparison between the top social media platforms, most children spent an average of 69 minutes daily on TikTok compared to 48 minutes and 39 minutes on Instagram and Snapchat respectively.

Facebook and YouTube still lead

When it comes to Millennials (those aged 26 to 35 years) however, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are regarded as the most important social media apps after messaging tool Whatsapp. As of the third quarter of 2019, YouTube was cited by 19.2 percent of respondents as the app they could least do without, followed by Facebook and Instagram. This was also reflected in the results of a UK-wide survey in 2020, where Facebook topped the list of social networks used regularly. This was followed by YouTube and Instagram, while TikTok was used regularly by a mere 10 percent of those surveyed.