The figures are being cited as sign that Facebook may have reached saturation point in the countries where it first enjoyed explosive growth. Almost 6 million Americans abandoned the site in May, Inside Facebook said, based on Facebook’s own advertising tool. At the start of the month there were 155.2 million US users, compared to 149.4 million at the end, a drop of 3.7 per cent and the first time it has lost users month-on-month in the last year.
In Britain meanwhile Facebook lost more than 100,000 users. Norway and Russia registered similar slips.
And although the site continued to grow worldwide, the rate of growth fell for the second month in a row. Facebook gained 11.8 million users in May and 13.9 million in April. Both compared unfavourably to a typical month in the last 12, in which it gained more than 20 million new users.
“By the time Facebook reaches around 50 per cent of the total population in a given country (plus or minus, depending on internet access rates in that country), growth generally slows to a halt,” said Inside Facebook’s Eric Eldon.
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