The number of monthly active users of Facebook in India has shot up by 5 per cent to 82 million for this year’s April-June period.
The California-based social networking giant had 78 million users in India in the January-March period.
“MAUs (monthly active users) by the end of second quarter stood at 82 million against 78 million at the end of January-March 2013,” Facebook India Country Growth Manager Kevin D’Souza told PTI .
A majority of active users in India access Facebook through mobiles, he added.
Buoyed by a surging user base in the emerging markets of India and Brazil, the social networking platform’s MAUs globally rose by 21 per cent to 1.15 billion as of June, 2013, against 955 million in the same period a year ago.
“Users in India and Brazil represented key sources of growth in the second quarter of 2013 relative to the prior year,” Facebook had said earlier.
Mr. D’Souza said India has been at the forefront of several growth stories for the social networking major.
Last month, Facebook said over 100 million people access the website every month through its app for feature phones, aiding the firm in expanding in developing markets like India.
“Today, millions of people in developing markets like India, Indonesia and the Philippines are relying on this technology to connect with Facebook, without having to purchase a smartphone,” the online organization said.
Besides, the firm has paid over $1 million in the past two years to security researchers who report bugs on its website, with India accounting for the second highest portion of the money spent.
MAUs are registered Facebook users who log in and visit the site through the website or a mobile device or take an action to share content or activity with Facebook friends or connections via a third-party website that is integrated with Facebook in the last 30 days as of the date of measurement.
