Tech

TikTok’s popularity in the GCC continues to increase

By jocelyn abesamis February 23, 2021

Dubai: TikTok continues to grow at a rapid pace in the GCC, with the platforms’ top regional influencers having doubled their follower numbers over the past year. The cumulative follower total of the top 10 GCC TikTok personalities grew from 24.6 million at the beginning of 2020 to 54.6 million today, an increase of 120%!

This rapid growth is also reflected in a dynamic and ever changing influencer scene, with new personalities constantly emerging and significant shuffling among the top spots for each country.

Nevertheless, some things have remained constant. Influencers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE still dominate the regional top 10 while UAE-based Jumana Khan (@jumana_khan_) retains the number one spot with 8.9 million followers.

However, the strongest growth in percentage terms comes from Oman and Qatar, where follower numbers among the top three influencers grew by an incredible 674% and 658% respectively.

Average follower numbers among top three influencers per country (millions)

Country	February 2020	February 2021	% Change
Bahrain	0.78	1.23	156%
Kuwait	0.81	1.77	218%
Oman	0.23	1.53	658%
Qatar	0.25	1.70	674%
Saudi Arabia	1.83	4.77	260%
UAE	4.47	8.27	185%

Source: TikTok

The GCC top 10 post anywhere from 2 to 24 videos per week, with an average of 350 views.

GGC Top 10 TikTok Influencers – Activity Summary

Username	Country	Followers (millions)	Videos Per Week	Average Views Per Video (millions)
jumana_khan_	UAE	8.9	8.8	0.1698
xzayx89	UAE	8.7	23.8	0.3286
sarahhmiladd	UAE	7.2	3.8	0.4276
iimeeto	Saudi Arabia	6.9	7.5	3.5
faryal_fairyyy	UAE	6.6	12.4	0.3084
a5_l	Saudi Arabia	4.3	1.6	1.6
dooj214	Saudi Arabia	3.1	3.7	0.5245
sh3lan	Saudi Arabia	3.1	1.6	0.6189
meeeero1	Saudi Arabia	2.9	3.9	0.6518
abas.iiii	Saudi Arabia	2.9	5	0.4661