The news: Facebook users will fall for the first time this year, dropping 0.8%, a 1.4 million user decrease, to 178.3 million users, per our newly released forecast.

• The Blue App is seeing an accelerating decline in adoption among younger social network users, with those under 25, already a small and shrinking share of its overall user base, continuing to fall off the platform or fail to adopt it at all.
• By next year, fewer than 15% of Facebook users will be under 25.
• The platform’s user base among age groups except those 65 and over will be either stagnant or shrinking—though this decline will stay gradual.

Why this matters: Facebook is losing penetration and users among younger consumers because on the whole, they’re not adopting the platform when they become old enough to create social accounts.

• Those who do have Facebook accounts are accessing them less frequently—instead, opting to use platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and, increasingly, TikTok—as their primary social options.
• This has led to a network effect that’s increasing the speed of these cohorts’ exodus from the platform.

Go further: Review our recently released Facebook user forecast here.