Facebook to Reach 1 Billion Users by August

Social networking company Facebook is expected to claim 1 billion users by August 2012 according to UK research firm iCrossing. Facebook already has 800 million worldwide users, so the growth spurt is slowing somewhat. Instead of exponential growth, Facebook is now growing in a more linear way.

Growth in developed countries like the US and the UK has slowed significantly, but in the developing world, growth is still rising at a rapid pace. In India, Facebook has added 14 million users in the past 9 months, and in Brazil new users total 17 million in the same period.

Only 3% of India’s population and just 16% of Brazil’s are currently signed up for Facebook. In the US 49% of the population are Facebook users and in the UK, the percentage is 47%.