TLDR
Australian advertisers will spend about A$8.76 billion on social media in 2026, according to We Are Social and Meltwater's Digital 2027 Australia report. Social spend is growing three times as fast as digital advertising overall and now takes 36.3% of it, yet almost 30% of internet users block ads and only one in ten feels represented in them.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Where the money is going
Advertising on social platforms in Australia is projected to reach US$6.15 billion in 2026, or about A$8.76 billion, up 16.5% on last year. Total digital advertising grew 5.5% to an estimated US$17 billion, which leaves social with 36.3% of the digital market, according to the Digital 2027 Australia report published by We Are Social and Meltwater on 4 November.[1]
That is three times the growth rate of the digital market as a whole, the point Campaign Brief led on.[3] It also makes Australia one of the most expensive social markets in the world: spend per social media user identity is US$272 a year, third globally and more than four times the global average of US$58.[1]
Where the time is going
Australian internet users aged 16 and over now spend 7 hours 35 minutes a week on social media, slightly more than the 7 hours 8 minutes they spend with linear TV. Across all online video, the figure is 9 hours 16 minutes a week.[1]
The country has 22.6 million social media user identities, equal to 82.8% of the population. DataReportal, which publishes the figures, cautions that identities may not represent unique individuals.[2] Facebook is the favourite platform of 26.1% of social media users, roughly double the global average.[1]
Spend is rising faster than trust
The report's other numbers point the other way. Almost 30% of internet users use ad blockers, only 10.1% say they feel represented in the commercial content they see, and 43.3% are concerned about how their personal data is used, against a global average of 30.8%. More than three-quarters worry about what is real or fake online, which puts Australia fourth in the world.[1]
"Simply scaling budget isn't enough," said Suzie Shaw, APAC chief executive of We Are Social.[1] Her argument, in an agency's own report, is that the brands that win will be the ones making work that fits each platform, not the ones buying the most of it.[3]
AI use outruns comfort
Some 72% of internet users aged 16 and over used an AI tool in the past month, but only 25% say they feel comfortable using the technology, and 18.7% believe it improves their daily lives. Almost half used AI to search for information; 16% used it to research brands or purchases.[1] Globally, We Are Social says generative AI has now been adopted by more than a third of the world's population.[4]
For the TV networks and publishers competing for the same budgets, the report is uncomfortable reading on the money and more encouraging on trust. Earlier this week Deloitte found Australians trust national news publishers far more than AI-generated news, and 84% want AI content labelled by law.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How much will Australia spend on social media advertising in 2026?
What share of digital ad spend goes to social in Australia?
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James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.
