Facebook ends 2015 with 540m monthly active users across Asia

Facebook now has 540 million active users (MAUs) across Asia-Pacific, the company revealed in its Q4 2015 financials. That’s up from 449 million MAUs in the region at the end of 2014.

Facebook’s global MAUs stand at 1.59 billion. That’s about the same as the Earth’s population in 1900. Facebook’s stat is up from 1.39 billion at the end of 2014.

Daily active users (DAUs), arguably a more important metric for an app that wants to be ubiquitous, also saw a bump. Facebook’s global DAUs hit 1.04 billion, while in Asia-Pacific it’s 309 million DAUs.

2015 is the year that Facebook utterly crushed newer apps like Line.

The newest data from Facebook didn’t include an update on WhatsApp, which reached 900 million MAUs back in September. No word on Facebook Messenger either, which rocketed to 800 million MAUs at the start of the month.

Along with its companion messaging apps, 2015 is the year that Facebook crushed newer apps that were seen as a grave threat just a couple of years ago in Asian markets, such as Line. Earlier today, Line reported 215 million MAUs, but its pickup of new users has pretty much flatlined, growing only 1.4 percent from Q3 to Q4.

Facebook’s earnings came in strong, showing US$17.93 billion in revenues for the whole of 2015, up 44 percent year-on-year.

The social network hit record highs in terms of advertising revenues across all geographies. Its income from ads has doubled in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America in the past 15 to 18 months.

Facebook’s full earnings slideshow is here (PDF link).