WonderDigital.org | The Middle East and Africa Media Consumption Report 2022

Insights into global media and device usage in 44 markets, and how consumer habits shifted towards mobile after the 2020 pandemic lockdown.

Middle East and Africa

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Click the links to see each country’s or territory’s charts for the following metrics:

Device Ownership
Smartphone and Tablet Owners
Smart TV Owners
Average Time Spent With Media
Traditional Media Users
TV Viewers
Video-on-Demand (VOD) Viewers
Social Media/Messaging Users
Digital Audio Listeners
Voice Assistant/Search Users

Key Takeaways

On a global scale, MEA ranks second for time spent on social and messaging. Internet users here spent an average of 3 hours, 5 minutes (3:05) per day using these services in H1 2022.

The region is No. 1 worldwide for time spent with VOD. North America holds the No. 2 spot.

Adoption of smart products lags North American rates, but MEA is home to the most active gamers in the world. MEA’s gaming industry will keep booming over the coming years and lead on a global scale in gaming technologies, given recent investments in the region.

Middle East and Africa (MEA) in Perspective

Both mobile devices and PCs remain prominent fixtures for households in this region.

On average, MEA internet users spent 4:35 per day on mobile devices in H1 2022, outpacing their North American counterparts by 1:09. Smartphone penetration remained at a high of 97.7% among MEA respondents, slightly exceeding North America’s penetration (96.2%).

Time spent with PCs and tablets was 11 minutes longer per day in MEA than in North America (3:50 versus 3:39)—even though PC ownership was higher in North America by 8.1 percentage points in H1 2022.

MEA internet users dedicate more time to gaming than those in any other region.

Gaming took up 1:29 per day for MEA internet users, outpacing the North American average by 7 minutes. This high time spent figure is notable given that just 18.6% of MEA respondents in H1 2022 owned a game console, compared with 39.8% in North America. Gaming has skyrocketed in MEA with investors in Saudi Arabia and the UAE pouring money into the industry, helping make the region’s internet users the most active gamers in the world.

Ownership of smart products isn’t robust, but it doesn’t fall too far behind North American rates in some categories. MEA’s smartwatch and smart TV penetration rates lagged by 5.0 and 15.3 percentage points, respectively, in H1 2022. On the other hand, smart home products failed to reach even a tenth of MEA internet users, at 8.3%.

Streaming video usage is higher in MEA than anywhere else across the globe.

MEA internet users are the most dedicated VOD viewers, spending 1:53 per day in H1 2022 with online TV and streaming services—beating the North American average by 1 minute.

Broadcast TV also consumes a lot of their time, with MEA respondents tuning in for 2:05 per day. By comparison, internet users in North America spent 2:52 per day watching broadcast TV.

MEA ranks No. 3 in time spent with music streaming, behind Latin America and North America. On average, MEA internet users devoted 1:45 per day to streaming music.

Media Consumption by Country

Egypt

Egypt leads in traditional media and gaming consumption. Internet users dedicated more than 2 hours daily to both print and online press, spending 58 minutes and 1:38, respectively. And although Egypt has the lowest game console penetration rate in the region, at 11.3% in H1 2022, internet users here spent almost 2 hours (1:38) per day on gaming.

Smart TVs are slowly starting to make their way into households across the country. By H1 2022, 36.5% of internet users owned a smart TV, with the product resonating slightly more with female respondents. In H1 2021, ownership stood at 30.7% of internet users overall.

In Egypt, smartwatches are gaining popularity, with penetration rising by 11.5 percentage points from H1 2020. Among high-income respondents, 29.2% owned a smartwatch in H1 2022.

Israel

Israel has both the lowest smartphone and feature phone penetration rates in the region, at 95.3% and 8.4%, respectively.

Although Israel lags in mobile penetration overall, it leads the region in smart home product and smart TV ownership. Some 14.2% of internet users owned a smart home device. Almost half (48.7%) owned a smart TV, outpacing the regional average by 7.7 percentage points in H1 2022.

Saudi Arabia

Internet users in Saudi Arabia are the most active VOD viewers in the region. Aside from social media and messaging, online TV and streaming video consume more of their time than any other content—eating up 14 more minutes per day than broadcast TV (2:04 versus 1:50). Saudi Arabia’s time spent with these platforms also exceeded the US average by 11 minutes.

Among the five countries tracked in MEA, Saudi Arabia (along with Egypt) ranks last in time spent streaming music.

South Africa

The country leads MEA in smartphone and PC penetration. Almost all (99.2%) of South Africa’s internet users owned a smartphone in H1 2022, and 80.8% owned a PC. In addition, they were the most likely to own a game console (25.9%) and TV streaming device (19.0%) in the region.

South Africa outpaces the rest of the region in several time spent metrics as well. Given that internet users here spent 5:18 daily with mobile devices, it makes sense that South Africa leads the region in time spent on social media and messaging services (3:44). South Africa also registers the most time spent per day in MEA with broadcast radio (1:30), music streaming (2:14), and broadcast TV (2:33).

Among the five MEA countries polled, South Africa ranks lowest in terms of smartwatch ownership, at 17.9% of internet users in H1 2022. In addition, smart wristbands have a meager ownership rate, at 10.1%.

United Arab Emirates

Within the region, the UAE has the highest ownership rates for smartwatches and smart wristbands. Some 31.1% of UAE internet users owned a smartwatch, outpacing the US rate by 4.8 percentage points in H1 2022. The UAE also has the highest rate of tablet ownership in the region, at 39.9%. This could be related to the country’s growth in technology overall, given Dubai’s recent investments in becoming a global tech hub.

PC penetration hit the lowest level since GWI began tracking it, at 62.5% in H1 2022, decreasing by 6.1 percentage points from last year. The amount of time spent with PCs and tablets shrank by 30 minutes from H1 2021, creating a gap of about 1 hour between time spent with those devices and with mobile.